Stalker
by fallvegas
Summary: No this does not have anything about a pony stalking another pony. This is the tale of Captain Richard Chamberlain Roderik and how he reacts to being removed from his world to this new one. So yeah it'll have the mane six, and will have gore and language.
1. Chapter 1

"Stalkers"

Chapter 1

"Got some bad news for you boys," General Darwen said as he walked into the debriefing room. "You are going south to hold the line while we evacuate civilians north toward Canada." This would be the fourth time my men would have to hold that southern line against the Dark in a month. Once is bad but to have to take casualties three times and now a fourth by it was pushing everyone's tolerance to the bull that was given to us. "Two points have been secured for you to hold. You will be taken by helicopter and dropped-"

"We know the drill General. We go and hold the line without support of any kind, taking more causalities, while you take the credit for getting the civilians to safety," said a sergeant. There was silence even though we were all thinking the same thing. We never got any support promised to us and the company had taken numerous deaths because of it. Of course if you want to be promoted or not executed you kept your mouth shut.

"Captain Roderik, I would advise that you remind this sergeant of why we fight," General Darwen said, but not loudly.

"Yes, sir," came my response.

"Now, point A will be on Helmings ridge," General Darwen pointed at an L shaped line on a diagram that was set up in the front. "I advise setting up into an L line to follow the ridge. The long stretch will be facing directly south, while the short stretch will be facing a South-Westerly direction. You will hold this ridge until you are pushed off. You will then fall back to point B, this office building just outside of the city and hold until you hear otherwise." All in all it looked like we were going to all get killed on this one. The ridge line was a little over 2 miles long and that can't be held by sixty men, two platoons. "Now, for the good news. You will only be holding off the walkers, maybe a few runners." This was statement was met with a cheer as those were easy to take care of.

The last three engagements we had been faced with involved dragons, fatties, and brutes. Dragons were by far the worst for the simple reason they could peg you with a spike from their tale eighty yards away. They were about ten feet long (real fun inside a house) with claws and teeth like a katana. They were sure pretty to look at as they're covered in vibrant, multicolored scales like a dragon would be depending on your source material. The fatties, well they were just fat and slow, not much of a threat unless they get you in a bear hug. The brutes, they could cause a problem if they got within ten yards of you. They were blind but could smell and if they caught your scent, well just don't let them get close enough. They were fast as dragons which means you're mostly screwed if they do get close and can take a beating. Walkers and Runners on the other hand, they were a cake walk same durability as a normal human. Sounded like we finally caught a break even though we were going to be spread thin.

"Alright men, grab your gear and go hold that line," said the General.

The hall was fairly plain with dim lights stretching down its length. I entered my room and began to gather my gear which consisted of my gun-belt with my .357 magnum and a .45 semi. Both were my father's till I inherited them after his death when I was young. The memories were still sickening. I strapped it around my waist feeling the familiar weight then I picked up the ZZR.47 assault rifle slinging the strap over my shoulder. It was a newer version of the old AK-.47. Next was advanced carry bag. Stupid name but that's what the eggheads wanted to call it. It looked like a regular combat back-pack but it could hold many more things. Mine could hold up to 800 pounds or a couple hundred items. I never bothered to figure out how that worked but damn if it wasn't useful. It still had everything that I needed considering it was part of the rules in case we had to leave fast. Soldiers rarely ever took their combat armor off but it was almost useless considering everything we faced could cut through it with ease.

Double checking everything I left the room and made it to the tarmac to wait for the last few stragglers. There were the helicopters ready to go but there was also a vehicle transport there ready for launch as well. We never had vehicles before so why would there be now when I heard the distinct rumble of tanks coming. I wasn't sure if I should be happy or angry. We could have used tanks for the last three engagements but if all we were facing were walkers and runners there was no need. Admittedly it was fun to watch that cut down walkers. Ah fuck it, zombies is what they are and I would like to slap the egghead who thought it would be cute to call them walkers. Oh well, it meant more men and that always rose sprites; plus having something that can leave a five crater is nice too. The last of the men lined up for inspection.

"Well, same shit just a different night," my statement was received with a couple of chuckles but that was alright, they deserved to laugh after the shit they had been through. "Sounds like it'll be an easy night but for the love of god don't drop your guard. Thankfully we have tanks backing us up though you would think we wouldn't need them. Tank master would you like to say something?" I asked a small bald man with a permanent scowl and a cigar sticking out of his mouth. (**An: ya I know clichéd as hell)**

"Let's go blow some shit up," safe to say he was greeted with a roar of approval. Without being told they loaded up onto the helicopters and the tanks rumbled their way onto their transport. I walked onto the lead heli and sat down on a seat near the ramp. I watched as the first half of first platoon walked on and took their seats. Most of the faces on board were haunted and… detached. It was depressing seeing that from so many young men, most being around nineteen. The youngest was seventeen while I was the oldest at twenty-five. They pulled out music and tablets to watch movies to relax. The last man on board sat next to me and leaned back and closed his eyes to catch some shut eye; that sounded like a damn good idea.

The helicopter landed with a small thump and we filed out, with the men falling into a line while I watched the tanks exit their transporter. There was three tanks meaning there would be an extra twelve hands on duty. That sounded small but behind a tank it counted for sixty men easy. I pulled an about face and addressed the men.

"Get to the hill gentlemen, what are you waiting for," I yell at them.

"Shit sir we don't know," they yelled back and then they broke formation and ran to the hill. The tanks moved so they were on the ridge with the men. It was finally going to be an easy ride for once. They set up quickly getting the LMGs and sniper rifles in place while the guys with assault rifles spread themselves out so that each were covering on of the aforementioned gunners. I climbed up the hill so I was almost even with one of the tank crew members. He had a tablet out I sneaked a peek at what he was looking at. I expected a movie or pictures of his family, instead I saw what looked like to horses locking lips. One was a blue color the other was orange.

I grabbed the man by his shoulder and hauled him to his feet, and taking the tablet out of his hands. "What the hell is a matter with you? Were on business and you're getting off on horses fucking." He lowered his eyes not wanting to look at me. I placed the tablet into my bag and then stared at him until he gave me a response.

"Well sir," he started and looking up at the same time, "they're technically ponies and… we all have our own fetishes."

"That didn't answer my question. Were on business so why are you trying to get off on some weird ass porn. Furthermore I don't care what your into, just not when were out. You won't get your tablet back till we get to home base."

"Yes si-"his head was gone and my face was covered in blood and bits of brain.

"GET DOWN NOW," I yelled not missing a beat as more spikes came down on us hitting a few more men and shredding a tank to pieces. The LMGs and sniper rifles let loose a torrent of hell on the dragons cutting down the few that were there. It was over in seconds but from what I could see the damage was sickening. At least five men were down, two dead, one missing an arm, and the other two with a spike sticking out of their stomach.

"Sir, we got two down on the short end and the tank took one to the engine but we killed the dragqueen," came a voice over the headset. I was going to respond when I saw a brute come level with the hill. That made no sense, we should have seen the fucker long before he got that far. The men lit his ass but he stilled charged at the line and reached it. He quickly tore into a private that was to slow to run.

"FALL BACK TO POINT B," my voice nearly cracking with my shout but the men didn't hesitate and they started to run and soon started to leapfrog each other trying to slow down the wave coming at us. I let loose short spray putting a walker and a runner down before going thirty and stopping to let loose another spray. The Intel was shit, there were brutes, fatties along with walkers and runners and we had already seen the dragons.

We were half a mile from the hill when the remaining tank was tipped by a brute charging into it. The gunfire was deafening but was nothing to sound coming from the hill. It was a deep throaty sound. We continued for another minute or two before what was making the sound came over the hill. It was a giant, they were rare but existed. They had the general shape of a man but were lumpy with growths on their body and stood about twenty feet tall. Their skin was hard needing an explosive to cause damage or a very high caliber bullet. That was it for the men, they stopped leapfrogging and just ran like hell to the office building. We made it and ran inside.

"Find something to barricade the door yelled a sergeant," and they all started throwing what was ever loose at the doors. There was heavy banging coming from the other side and we all knew that it wasn't going to hold long.

"Get upstairs and start blocking the stairways and get ready for a last stand," I say as calmly as I could but it was hard, knowing that the men, your men weren't going to live. That last look before the doors were closed made sure there wasn't much hope. There had to of been hundreds of them, of everything on top of the giant. They followed the command and we all started up the stairs.

It wasn't until we were on the fourth floor that we heard a large, almost explosive in nature sound form below signaling that they broke through. We continued up till we were at the top, the sixth floor. It was empty with just its pillars to hold up the ceiling. I took a hard look at the men counting them. There was fifteen left not including myself. Fifteen out seventy-two in less than an hour of fighting. I walked over to the radio man.

"Radio to Darwen and tell him what happened, and that we'll hold for as long as we can. Tell him he needs to hurry," the radio man gave a curt nod and did as I told. "Get into a firing line and get ready to meet god." They did just that without a sound. We all knew we were done. There were more sounds of them breaking through and as time went by they got closer and closer.

The first runner came out of the door way and charged and was cut down with two bullets to the chest. Same with the second and third. Then the fatties were pushing there frames through the doorways and we killed them too. This went on for close to an hour and we were all down to our last magazines. I pulled out my revolver and felt the familiar buck in my hands as I squeezed the trigger. Soon that ran out and the line broke as half the men ran toward the windows in the back, figuring suicide was better than being torn apart. The other half charged with knives ready when the windows to our right shattered inward. It became black, blacker than black but you could still hear, the screams coming from my men and the Dark were loud enough to almost break your ear drums.

I was slammed from the right and I felt my feet leave the ground. I stopped when I slammed into something hard knocking the remaining breath out of my lungs and leaving me in pain. I wasn't sure but it felt that ribs were broken and blood was running down my face. The blackness lifted and I was met with a sight of blood, guts, and various body parts strewn all over the place. There was still a brute standing along with a few walkers and a fatty. I started to push myself up grunting as I did so and catching the attention of the beasts. I wasn't going to die laying on the ground.

They moved toward me when the brute seemed to explode in a fountain of blood and various organs and so did the fatty and the walkers. I didn't see what killed them but I took comfort knowing that it would be quick. "Well come on then, you still have one more to go," I say softly. The comment was met with a grunt from the stairway I turned my head that way to fast causing it to swim dropping me to my knees. I looked again going much slower and I was greeted with golden eyes not a foot from my face.

My breath caught in my throat. It broke eye contact and moved toward the center of the room, my eyes following it. I was staring at a stalker. The very thing that started the systematic extermination of the human race. They came from a different world or dimension through a portal. The ones for the Americas happened in Brazil and their disease quickly spread. We were never sure how it spread from them but for everything else it was through biting. The sudden increase in immigration to the north was immense but to be expected but the disease spread so quickly we were forced to fire bomb everything midpoint of Mexico south. They were known for their looks and there scream which could incapacitate anyone in its radius with fear. It was black like a night with no stars or moon. Easily fifteen feet if not a little bit more. Had a tail that added another ten that ended with a spike. Claws and teeth sharper than a dragons and faster. Its skin was smooth almost looked like glass. And it had wings that were large but they were folded against its back.

I found breathing hard as I stared at it but my examination was interrupted as the building took a large lurch forward causing me to tumble forward and then the angle grew worse with a great groaning and shacking from the building causing me slide toward the nightmare. The stalker simply hooked its claws into the floor but it didn't see me as I slammed into it causing a yelp to escape from it. The windows were coming up fast and shortly before reaching them our positions changes so that I was on top of it. Weather that was fortunate or not is debatable as the stalker took the glass shards in the window frame to its back and wings. Then we were free falling toward the ground, I closed my eyes before we hit.

**AN: so this is my first real try at writing something. I know this is probably a but rough so review telling me what I need to work on and any tips you could give would be greatly appreciated. just don't be a rude prick. its unnecessary. thanks and bye. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The dull ach in my side grew and grew with every breath leaving little else to focus on. Slowly my eyelids opened showing a thick foliage above me with sun trying to break through. I start to move only to gasp and stop. The impact from the stalker definitely cracked a rib, maybe more than one, hopefully it was only one and cracked, not broken. Slowly I get myself into a sitting position with my back straight only to notice my gun belt was gone. This scared me, it was one of the few things that I found comforting, and the only thing (besides the pistols) from my father that I had. I couldn't do anything about it so instead I investigate my surroundings. I was in a forest that seemed quite large and with the trees so close together and it was sort of dark.

All of this was confusing, I was falling about to meet the ground outside of a city, but now I'm not. I would have been killed from the fall but the building was also coming down on top of me. This wasn't right at all. I looked around as much as I could by only turning my head and saw that the trees, while having dark green foliage, were oddly shaped. Many looked like they had faces in them while others were bent over like an old woman. I try to stand up and succeed but it wasn't without a great deal of pain from the movement and the increase in breathing.

My chest wasn't the only thing in pain, everything was whether it be from an actual injury or just the ach of muscle fatigue. A light brown bag that was sitting against a tree a few yards away caught my attention. Moving as carefully as possible as to avoid causing more pain than needed. I pick the bag up with a grunt only to see that the name tag on it said DeLain. I didn't recognize the name but it gave me hope. It meant that there were other people here that could help me, could maybe tell me what happened. I open the bag and saw a welcome sight.

There were a few roles of clean bandages that I could use to wrap my chest with. Besides the bandages there was also a small pocket knife that looked like it was relatively new. Dropping the bag after taking out the bandages and knife I took off the body armor and started to cut the shirt underneath. Soon it was off and I could see the bruising on my side. It was quite extensive and looked as bad as it felt but considering I wasn't passing out or dead I figured that the rib or ribs were only cracked and not broken. Next I take the bandages and start wrapping just under my armpit going as far as my naval. They weren't too tight but, snug like a blanket wrapped around you in a cold night. Taking slow deep breaths I continue to look through the bag.

I find some painkillers and a map. I take a couple of the pills and spread the map out on the forest floor. The map showed what looked like a massive forest called Everfree and a red circle with the note saying town one. There was a total of four red circles marked on the map and a line cutting off what looked like five miles worth of forest at the edge of it. The red line had the word avoid written over and over again all the way through, and one of the circles was in the woods as well. There was no note for this circle. The third circle was next to town one but with the note of apple orchard. The last circle was high up on the map with _capitol?_ next to it.

Sighing I stand again taking the bag I started to walk looking for a suitable location to rest for a day or two. I went a mile, maybe a little bit more when I came across a little hollow in an especially dense copse of trees. I drop the bag and quickly lay down on my side and try to sleep but it wouldn't come quickly. Thoughts of how badly we were beaten ran through my mind. Intel was never hundred percent but to miss what had come at us meant that we were all lied to or something else was involved, like a stalker. The question of why it didn't kill me in the office building ran through my mind again and again without an answer till I fell asleep.

My sleep was pitiful due to the dreams, well more like memories from my past. The gunfights with rebels, bandits and the slaughter of men, my men, at the claws of the Dark. I was damaged goods that was for sure. I sit up stretching my sides slowly and taking deep breaths I grabbed the bottle of painkillers and took a couple more. Deciding not to wait for my ribs to heal I stood up and exited the copse and looked up. It was fairly dark still but I could make out light from my left. That way was east and according to the map town one was in that direction.

I walked in that direction at least an hour but I had only covered what felt to be half a mile. Taking extra care not to jostle myself was slowing me down on top of traveling through a thick forest. I continued but had to correct myself again and again because I kept veering to the left. The veering actually helped me because I came to a road. Deciding that a break was in order I lean back against a tree next to the road and stayed that way for a while.

I sing a few songs to myself to help pass the time and soon I was at it again albeit I was making much better time, even though it was still slow. The sun was going down when something good came across my nose. It wasn't food but something to do with camping, happy memories came back to me when everything was simpler. When my father and I would roast a hot dog over a hot fire- oh shit. There had been a breeze since I had gotten on the road pushing against my back and it had slowly increased into actual winds.

I turn and see smoke above the tree line and guessed that the fire was a few miles away since the smoke was heaviest that far away. Turning back around I pick my pace up covering about a mile when a sudden strong gust of wind sent smoke around me. I look back to see that the fire had moved swiftly and was only a mile, maybe less, away. I start to run not wanting to be caught in the fire but I didn't get far before smoke was hugging my clothing and the heat of the fire was pushing at my back.

Centering myself on the road I run faster causing my side to cry out in pain but I pushed my battered body on any way. Out of the corner of my left eye I could see the flames jumping from one branch to another like a monkey. The smoke was much heavier and my breathing was ragged not drawing in enough oxygen. Suddenly a tree came down in front of me causing me to dash into the trees on my right to avoid it.

The sound of roaring could be heard on the other side of the trees on the road causing me to hesitate about pushing back onto the road. The roar wasn't from the fire but an animal. Then I feel the heat of the fire lick my back causing me to sprint forward and dodge whatever was in the way. My side was on fire with the pain from my ribs but I push myself onward staying just ahead of the flames. If I did slow down the sudden heat against my back made sure I went faster. My breathing was coming in gasps now but really it was only smoke I was taking in now. I was slowing down and not even the fire could make me go any faster. My vision was blurry as tears went down my cheeks trying to stop what was irritating them but to no avail.

Suddenly the tree line broke but I kept moving forward, stumbling and eventually tripping. I took deep breaths despite my ribs crying out in pain. Shrugging the bag off my shoulders I lay on my back staring up into the smoke that was blocking out the sky. I stayed like this for- well I don't even know. It started to rain and soon the smoke was gone only to be replaced by dark rolling clouds. I didn't complain though, the rain was soothing to my body, calming me. Rain always had that effect on me. My sight was fading, going tunnel vision on me. I tried to fight it, but it was to no avail and I slipped under the waves of unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Oh god, my lungs were in agony. Every breath caused excruciating pain to radiate from them plus the ribs were not helping at all. Slowing my breathing down, I took stock of my situation. I was completely naked but I did have a blanket laying over my bottom half. There were bandages wrapping my entire torso along with my arms, and I was pretty sure that my left leg was wrapped half way. I looked over to my right to spot a glass of water on a nightstand. I began to reach over but stopped when the dull ach of my shoulder flared. This was going to take a while.

After slowly reaching and stopping many times I had the cup in my hands and with a sweating brow I took greedy gulps. The glass was empty much too fast for my liking. Eventually I set it back on the nightstand and felt myself slowly drifting off again. Figuring that fighting the feeling was useless I let it take me.

There was slight tugging on my leg but not wanting the person doing the tugging know I was awake I left my eyes closed. I felt that it was better to figure out what I could then talk to whoever it was that had possibly saved my life. While the person was doing the rest of their examination I again took stock of my body again. I was still naked and I realized how awkward this was; this room wasn't a hospital, in fact it had looked like a private room when I drank the water.

Pushing out the thoughts of whether I was in the home of a doctor or a rapist I let my mind turn to my body's condition. My lungs felt much better considering that they didn't feel like they were on fire. My ribs were still hurting but not as much, guess I was getting more used to it or some time had passed. The rest of my body ached, I would move my arms and legs when the person left. Eventually they did and my limbs became active. I was quite happy to feel that, despite mild discomfort, they didn't elicit as much pain as the previous night.

No, I felt too good for this to simply be two nights after my sprint through an almost literal hell. I guess a few days could have passed from then to when I first woke but my body was telling me that another few days had passed. Just then my stomach let out a growl bringing my attention to the fact that I was hungry. This revelation brought further bad news. I was weak, and not just the 'you've been through a terrible accident' but the 'you haven't had anything solid to eat and haven't moved for a while' kind.

There was a knocking sound coming from below me. I guess that meant I was on the second floor of the house. I glance to my left was greeted with a picturesque fireplace. There came a chirping from above me causing me to look up only to find myself in amazement. In the rafters there were multiple bird nests and even a few houses. Damn this was cool and peaceful, something that I wasn't use to, something that was wrong. There was no such thing as peaceful in my world, only violence and death with a couple of mild moments in between.

Footsteps come up the stairs snapped me out of my thoughts and I closed my eyes. The door at the end of the room opened and the footsteps came closer. The sound from them was wrong though, it was comparable to the sound of hooves striking wood. This set my nerves on edge but I tried my best to stay still and not alert the person, maybe thing, that I was aware of its presence. What worried me more so was that I didn't notice that this anomaly the first time they were in here. The steps stopped near the side of the bed by my head.

"I hope you wake up so I can find out what you are," said a quiet female voice. She eventually walked away leaving me to ponder what she had meant by finding out what I was. This was not good on many levels yet there was concern and a feeling of kindness in the voice even if what was said didn't portray that. I heard talking and then eventually the door opened and then closed with what might if been enough time for two people to walk through.

Grunting with the effort I got to my feet only to realize that the rafters were maybe an inch or two above my head. I make my way to the door where I was met with steps going to the floor below. I didn't hear anything so I started my way down and eventually made it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I stilled ached and was breathing harder than I should of. Looking around I was met with a rather peculiar looking home. It was odd mostly because of all the little homes for the many animals milling around.

"Ok, so the person is a vet, great. Now where is the kitchen so I can get something to munch on." I walk through a doorway to my right at the bottom of the stairs and look around again. This might be the living room considering it had a long couch which had a blanket on it- shit they've been sleeping on the couch while I kind of stole her bed. I look to my right and see the kitchen. Moving in that direction I enter the new room and start going through the cupboards only to find a strange assortment of foods.

There was a lot of food that a farm animal might eat such as hay, oats, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. There was also a few sweets like cupcakes and cookies. God how long has it been since I had a cookie. I grab one took a small bite only to be sent on a journey of bliss from how good it tasted. After finishing the cookie I grabbed an apple and a banana and quickly ate those and walked outside of the house. There was a cool breeze which felt nice against my sore body but at the same time all the animals looking at me was disconcerting. Seeing some woods nearby I walk closer and chuck the core of the apple and the banana skin in there.

I had a few choices about what I could do now. One: leave right now without clothing and make my way in the woods. This was probably the worst considering that my ribs weren't fully healed yet plus I had nothing. Two: stay and act like I was comatose and hope my caretaker didn't catch on to my lie while I healed up a bit more. Three: I could stay and 'wake up' and learn about where I was, acquire clothing, get supplies, and get a good damn explanation about what happened.

They all had a good thing going for them and a bad thing. Fuck, what was I going to do? The second choice. I'll stay and heal up until I can make it on my own with more ease; maybe that'll turn into three depending on what happens over the course of the next day or two. I enter the house after relieving myself and admiring the architecture of the building. It was essentially a tree house only to the extreme. I return to the upstairs and lay back down on the bed with the covers laying over my lower half. Amazing how fucking easy it was to fall asleep.

The creature was downstairs probably asleep. Whatever the indigenous species were they defiantly weren't human. If anything I would say they would be horse in nature only. At least that's what I gleaned from what she told me. She had arrived home shortly before dark and had come up and checked on me only to say that she needed to take care of all the other animals. When she came back she had a soup of some kind and I didn't know how to fake sleep swallowing, but she didn't seem to notice anything wrong. The real problem was to not react to what she said while feeding me.

She started off by telling me what she and her friends did and that progressed to her telling me what each one was like. She then proceeded with their rulers, two princesses that ruled the day and night separately. Finally she told me of strange objects that a couple of her friends found that had been laying around. Apparently the one named Twilight Sparkle had found a strange looking _saddle bag_ that held many interesting things. Then the one named Applejack had found what sounded like a couple of pistols.

By the sounds of it they were going to take the pistols to the princesses when they went to a Grand Galloping Gala, which I determined to be some kind of ball, while the 'saddle bag' was to be left at her first friend's house. The library near the middle of the town, which was called Ponyville. Dear god where the hell was I. The group was going to leave the next day which was when I was going to grab the bag and get the hell out of Dodge so to speak. Only one problem with that: she had taken care of a foreign creature, and now had made some clothing for him. This was going to be harder than I thought to just leave.

The next night I slipped out of the bed and grabbed the clothing that my caretaker had made and was surprised that the fit me quite well, plus there was extra room for when I finally got some of the muscle and fat that I had lost. I made my way down the stairs and walked along the path until I came across the town. It was quaint looking and sleepy at this time of night with only a few lights on in a few houses.

Staying low I made a small dash to an alleyway. I did my best to stay in those and side streets to get to the center of the town which I finally accomplished. Even better I didn't run into any of the inhabitants. Next I looked for a large tree only to find that it was a couple of buildings away from me. Walking over to the library I turned the knob and wasn't disappointed to find that it was unlocked.

Closing the door quietly I walked forward a couple of steps and stopped to listen if there was sounds of movements. There wasn't any so I proceeded to a table and podium that had books stacked high on them but there was no bag that I could see. Next I walked into what looked like a kitchen but once again there wasn't a bag or anything really. It was fairly plain with a sink, oven, a few cupboards and a table. The rest of the library was void of the bag as well, though I did find a rather nice looking bathroom and comfortable looking bedroom. It appeared that the creature living here had a small pet. Finally I found a door that was locked. Backing up a foot I kicked at the door near the handle only to have a small throb of pain shoot up my leg. I tried again and again, and finally the fifth kick knocked the door in. With a slight limp I made my way down the stairs and was met with what looked like a scientist's laboratory.

There was the bag on a table in the middle of the area and strewn around it were many things that had come out of it. Waking closer I couldn't believe that it was my bag. The dirty old bloodstained bag had in bold letters Capt. Roderik on the front. Gathering the random assortment of books, electronics, and bullets I placed them back into the bag. I did one last look before I left and spotted a rifle with about ten boxes of ammo around it leaning against the counter lining the wall. I picked it up to see that it was the last version of the M16 only this one had a medium range scope on it, like an old fashion ACOG only newer.

I left the place basement not bothering to try and close the door but I did close the front door. Now what? I guess I'll go back to the cottage and wait for the owner so I could say thank you and then take my leave. I sneaked my way out of the small town and was on the road. The house, more of a cottage, was in view when suddenly there was a bright flash causing me to duck and launch myself into the forest next to the road. I peeked out from behind the tree to spot what looked like full grown horse only this one had wings and a large horn sticking out of its face.

This must have been the princess of the day and her sister was standing right by her side. She was a bit shorter and the color scheme was the opposite of her sis. She had dark fur with a dark hair. What the fuck was up with those, they flowed like water and while the smaller ones was shorter it rivaled the bigger ones in shininess. There was also what looked like 15 guards along with six other horses, or was it ponies, yeah ponies is what she said. It looked like the two sisters were arguing quietly over something when a familiar voice spoke up.

"Please, please don't hurt him. He hasn't done anything and is still hurt," said a pink haired, yellow fur Pegasus.

"Listen Fluttershy," stated the bigger princess, Celestia I think her name was, "he is a dangerous animal that can cause much harm to many ponies." The verbal lash caused the pink pony to back up behind the blue pony with the rainbow hair. That one looked familiar, as did the orange one with the brown hat blonde hair.

"Sister," started the smaller one, "we believe that the one before had a sickness of the mind." Sickness of the mind- oh god no don't tell me those fucking beasts came through with me. Hell I don't even know how I got here so should I be- shit the Stalker might have came through too. I was kind of holding on to it. This wasn't good, fuck it I'm leaving. The bigger one appears to want my head on a stick and the younger one wasn't going to convince her otherwise. I just wished I could have gotten my hands on the pistols, I had a gut feeling that they were mine.

I start to back up only for a twig to snap loudly underneath my foot. I stop but they all heard it. Not bothering to be quiet I turn and booked it into the woods feeling déjà vu again from when I was running from the fire.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Damn these fuckers, why won't they just give up? I had lost them multiple times only for them to find me again and again and each time I would have to start running. There was a gully coming up giving me two options. One I could try to jump it which would result in my chest hurting even more (fuck cracked ribs); two I could go in the gully and run down its length until I found somewhere to hide or to get out. Deciding to go into the gully I just run off and land lightly on my feet and turning to my left to take off at a sprint again.

I had only gone a few feet before I heard scrabbling hooves behind me. This was going to be fun considering I wouldn't be able to turn and run up a side before they caught me. I'd have to wait for a side to lower before I did that. I kept running as did the pony behind me when I heard the peculiar sound of flapping. Shit I forgot that some had wings; congrats Ricky-dick you fucked up.

I pushed harder only to be shoved violently to the side of the gully with snapping jaws next to my face. I get my forearm against its throat and pushed back getting enough room between me and the runner to kick its stomach. It fell against the wall of the gully and I took off again only to be stopped by a high pitched scream. I turned to find that the runner had grab the pegasus that had been following me and was trying to bite into the pony's neck. I figured her (I think it was a female) friend would save her only to look past the two struggling creatures to see that the one running after me had been taken down by another runner.

Slipping my arm out from the strap I aim the rifle and put one through the first runner. The gunshot echoed throughout the area and I put another bullet through the second one's head less than a second later. The first pony had been bitten now shook and cried. It was a pitiful sight and I aimed the gun for third time figuring that dealing a quick death instead of letting it suffer and maybe becoming one of them was worth being pursued through the accused forest till I got away or they killed me. I squeezed the trigger a third time and turned tail and ran again.

The pegasus didn't follow me and after maybe an hour, the longest time without being chased, I stopped and sat against a tree. After maybe ten minutes of rest I stood again and made my way further into the forest. I wonder where the first one runner or walker had shown up at and how much damage it caused for the head honcho to be so pissed. Not much considering that my species probably doesn't even exist here. Wherever here was. After some time I came across a swamp that was vile looking. Also there were many, many frogs roaming around.

I turn my back on the swamp and tried to figure out what to do know. The forest had a malevolent feeling to it and I really didn't want to stay in it more than I had too. Plus there was that red strip on the map I used when I first arrived. What was so bad that it had avoid written repeatedly along the side of it? The only other option was to go back to queen psycho bitch and get my head put on a spike. Damned if I do, damned if I don't. Was it raining again?

I look up and was met with an ugly brown scaled, green eyed bastard that was soaking wet. Best bit was that there were three identical heads. Man my day was just getting better and better wasn't it. Once again I was running, hell if everything wanted me dead they were going to work for it. I thought the trees would bring some cover but the bastard just pushed through those like they were tooth picks. This caused me to have to dodge the trees in front of me and also the trees that could possibly fall on me from behind. I broke through into a clearing with it right behind me only to suddenly be off me feet.

The monster chasing me shrunk as I was carried higher and higher. I noticed that the hooves holding me were a light blue maybe a cyan color. It was that Rainbow Dash which meant that I was being taken to the Princess. Well I could put up with dying that way or I could struggle resulting in her dropping me causing a gooey mess below. I'll just run for it again when I reach ground. A few minutes later we came to a cloud and she started to lower me on it. Letting me go I fell onto then through the cloud getting me wet. I couldn't help but chuckle at the expression that must have been plastered on her face, it would have to be priceless. The wind grabbed at my clothing and threatened to tear my recently returned bag from me but once again the pony grabbed me and we were off again only this time we landed in a clearing.

"That was not cool dude," said the breathless pegasus. "You had enough time to tell me that you couldn't stand on clouds." I looked at her for a second before it clicked that this was one of the horses on that tablet that I took from the tank crew member. Laughter bubbled up and past my throat and soon they were hysterical. I'm not sure when the laughter degenerated into crying but it must have been awhile. It couldn't have been helped. This was some kind of punishment for the things I had done for that god forsaken military, and general bullshit I put some men through.

I don't respond instead I examined her. She was about four five with multicolored hair and tail with a cyan blue body. Here wings were the same color as her body and she had about a six and a half foot wingspan. "Well I'm Rainbow Dash and I am the best flier in Equestria." She continued on as to why she was the best. Sighing I stood up and looked around only to find that we were in a good sized clearing. I needed to get out of here soon and get back into the trees. I began to wonder as to why she did save me though

"So why did you help me?" She just looked at me in surprise, maybe because I could speak, and I figured that she wasn't going to answer when I felt my legs get pulled out from underneath me and then I was hoisted up into the air. My rifle and bag slipped off my shoulders as I dangled six feet above the green grass. My day just gets better and better. Holding my shirt to my waist to keep from falling down I looked at the princess. She wasn't happy but then again she was covered in copious amounts of mud and dirt. I thought she was wouldn't do the dirty work with the guards. Strange, I was going to have respect for the thing that was going to kill me. She was about to speak when another voice beat her to it.

"What happens if you are bitten," said a pegasus to my right and after looking at her for a few seconds I realized that it was the one I had saved.

"They change, into what attacked your people," I say keeping my voice low. "Put me down. I can help you, I don't want them to hurt or species like they did to mine." I address the last part to the princess. Suddenly my head snaps to the left and I hear gasps from the ponies, damn that's just weird thinking that, and I look forward again to see the princess breathing hard and look that could kill.

"Why would I let down a vile creature such as yourself? Your kind," she says kind like it's a disease, "has killed many of my ponies." The anger and pain in her voice was apparent and I felt a pang of pity for her, but I've lost plenty to the Dark and, hell everything I had been fighting for was probably gone considering that the General liked to take his time. God humans can be disgusting even through an apocalypse.

I was about to respond when a sight just over the trees caught my attention. It looked like a pegasus but fat as hell. Ah shit the disease must act faster in them than it does humans. The lumbering monstrosity was flying slow but was drawing nearer than what could be considered comfortable.

"Let me ask you something princess," I start, "are you willing to kill your kind that gets bitten because if you aren't then you're going to cause quite a bit of harm to your own. Mine did a lot to stop it and we were still getting killed on an almost daily basis, now let me go so I can do what I'm good at and maybe stop this from spreading." The flying beast was drawing nearer and was close enough to start angling down on the citizens if it wanted too. Which begs the question why the fuck was my caretaker and her friends still here.

"No, I can't take that risk," the princess says and but I decided that it didn't matter much. She was going to drop me soon enough. I tense my body for the fall so that I could get up quick. I took a deep breath letting myself calm down. Then the flyer dropped down on top of her causing her to go to her knees and dropping me but I still heard multiple snapping and cracking sounds. I managed to drop on my uninjured side and I quickly got to my feet and pulled the blade from the sheath along my thigh and dashed forward sinking it into its back. The ten inches went in all the way in an almost sickening display of ease. Grabbing the mane of the diseased beast I threw him off and was about to check the princess for bites when I was lifted off my feet by another one that had come up from behind.

I bucked hard trying to knock it off when suddenly its weight was gone. Looking behind me I found that it was surrounded in a dark aura and being violently slammed into the ground repeatedly. It was good to know that the ponies were willing to kill. I got to my feet and looked for the next creeper and charged it. There was a mixture of human runners and walkers along with a few ponies. This one had been male, probably a lawyer or business man according to his attire. I slashed the blade across its throat and kicked the knee out to drop him. Then on to the next one and the next one. It really is amazing what a few well-placed slashes and stabs can do to the body.

One slash to the throat followed by the blade hitting the back of the neck and it was done. One stab to the spine and you have them dropped ready to be finished. So easy after you get accustomed to it. The fight lasted close to forty minutes with me mostly saving the ponies. They couldn't get the hang of it, to just go for the kill or something to incapacitate them. In fact the only one doing much of anything was the dark princess. She would pick them up and slam them into the ground or throw them into the others or just to get distance.

Eventually one got to her without me or her noticing. She screamed and bucked as it jumped on her and I turned to see that it was about to take a bite. I quickly grabbed the runner only for it to swing its elbow into my nose causing blood to spurt out. His attention was on me when he was thrown up into to the air. I figured she had it under control so I continued with my slashing and shallow stabs to the rest still kicking.

After many minutes of fighting it came down to a trickle of them coming out of the woods. It was a mop up job now, one of the easier jobs. A walker came out of the woods with an army uniform on. Shaking my head I slowly approach him. He couldn't have been more than twenty when he was infected. There were numerous bite marks with some chunks off his right arm. I bring the knife up and charge the last few meters and push the blade to its hilt in his chest. We both we went down and I just stayed there staring at his face. He looked familiar but that didn't mean much. After a while you stop trying to remember faces.

I don't know how much time I spent like that but a small tug on my shoulder was enough to bring me out of it. I stood and made my way to my bag only to see that it had been stepped on by a lot of running feet. Sighing I picked it up and looked for the rifle not that I had much hope that it was in workable condition when I heard a voice behind me.

"Here's your weapon," I looked behind me and was greeted with the pegasus I had saved earlier that night and she was holding my rifle. She looked frightened but I really couldn't blame her after my slight breakdown. I took it from her grasp and began walking toward the forest hoping that none of them would stop me. While no one physically did the sounds of crying and… pleading did. Looking back again I saw the six civilians and the princess standing over the other princess. She must have taken much more damage than I had thought.

Feeling like throwing up I looked over the remaining guards which there were six left and none of them had packs for medical supplies and the unicorns all looked too tired to do any of their magic. Fuck. Taking the bag off my shoulders I chucked it at the group surrounding the injured ruler and then sat on the ground. "It has medical stuff that you can use," I called over to them. The younger princess looked at me and then the yellow pony took the bag and started going through it. I laid back and looked to the night sky. The sky back home couldn't compare to the sky here, to what they had here. Maybe there was something to continue to fight for.

**AN: Well this is chapter four and I hope all of you are enjoying it so far. Because my editing and writing process is kinda out of whack chapter 5 maybe shorter than normal or maybe longer than normal. Chapter 5 will be posted on August 25.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After a week of doing nothing but sitting on a cot, doing mild exercise, and staring at the grey walls of an 8x8 cell you start going stir-crazy. This was a reward for my generosity to those damn ponies. Getting knocked out then waking up in my little cell with two meals a day which consisted of bread and water. Sometimes I got some fruit but because these were ponies I didn't get meat, that was a disappointment, but I digress. The guard ponies were not very good considering that I could get more than half of them involved in a conversation while the others would pay some form of attention.

"Are you awake creature," asked a gruff voice from outside my cell. Looking over I saw a grumpy pony in the light colored armor, these fuckers were color coded. One set of armor for day another for night. Good thing 'cause this told me how many days I'd been there.

"Yeah, what is it now, am I getting out," I ask with a much more force behind it than was warranted. He shook his head but unlocked the cell and then stood back as another five or six guards came up.

"You are wanted by the princesses but before that you must wash up. Stand and follow us." His talking was very… rigid. Like a good little soldier pony. I stand and did what he said to and followed. We went up many hallways and stairways with many turns and twists. I should make a poem out of that. After some time of walking we came to a small wash room.

"Clean yourself then put on these clothes," the head guard said. Sighing I take my shirt off and had my thumbs in the pants waistband about to pull it down when I noticed that they hadn't left.

"If you're going to stay you might as well join me, I could use the company," they left in quite a rush.

Damn these clothes are itchy. We entered a long room that I assumed was the throne room which had numerous guards along the walls. Low and behold those six ponies were here as well. The pink one, the yellow one, the rainbow, the snobbish looking one, the other unicorn, and finally the orange colored one with the hat. That was a nice looking hat, I wanted it. Snapping my attention back forward when the head guard stated to talk telling them that I had arrived, this made me wonder if they were a bit blind. He finished and moved over to the side.

"Step forward," ordered the bigger of the two. Somehow, while being chased and attacked by various monstrosities, I failed to notice that her hair was very colorful. I liked the other rulers better. She looked a bit unsteady however this was barely noticeable. I stepped forward and then turned by body toward the other princess and went to attention with a salute closely following. I held this for five seconds before dropping my arm and then after turning back to head princess I went to at ease. I held a very strong belief in earing respect if they are not my inherit superiors and since they weren't even my own species I felt no need to see them as such.

"I wish to speak with you about what happened in the Everfree Forest and to apologize for my actions," she said but in a surprisingly gentle voice compared to the way she had sounded toward me the previous week. What really surprised me was that she actually sounded like she meant it. Now though a small rectangular shape was lifted up from next to her throne and presented to me.

"But first what is this and why does it have… well why does it have what it does," the princess looked slightly sick and worried which confused me. Did tablets and other electronics have negative effects on their magic? I take it in my hands and turned it on and I look back up to explain to her what it was.

"Well this is an electronic device used for many things. Head base gave one to all the soldiers. You can put music on it, pictures, movies-," When I looked back down I was met with two ponies kissing and grinding, only these two were relatively good copies of the two in the room.

"How did thou acquire that? Why does it have them on it," asked the dark princess.

"Well this one isn't mine, I took it off one of my soldiers. When were on the line having these out is against the rules. As for why it has them on it I have no idea," I look up to see that the white princess had an incredulous expression while the dark one seemed to believe but she still wasn't happy. I quickly exit the animation only to find that his home wallpaper was a drawn image of the lavender colored pony with… was that a scroll in her… oh my god I'm in personal hell right now. I died and this is my punishment. I start to go through the pictures only to find more of the pornographic material so go to the videos more of the porn. I turn it off feeling sick because this made everything much more awkward.

"Does any of your electronic devices have anything similar on them," asked the head princess.

"No, like I said I have no idea what it is or how he got ahold of it. Quite frankly I'm disgusted with it too," I was really hoping that they wouldn't harm me for something like this.

"Now I would like to apologize for my behavior early," started Celestia, "I have a proposition for you if you're willing to listen." I nod my head and she then dismissed the majority of the guards along with the six other ponies that seem to be everywhere. Anyway we went into a smaller room where there was another unicorn pegasus hybrid. Alicorn I think my previous caretaker had told me this, no she did tell me this because I couldn't come up with this kind of shit on my own.

"This is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, my niece and captain of the guard Shining Armor," said Celestia. The princess in front of me was pink, I mean bright fucking pink, not as bad as the other one though, white pink purple hair and tail with a heart like thing going on her flank. Why am I looking at their asses so much for me to pick up on that? Next to her was a unicorn guard who was bright white with varying shades of blue as his hair.

"I suppose you want to know where I'm from, what I am, along with what attacked us a week ago and all of that complicated shit. You all might want to sit down for this it's going to take a while," I say. I explained what humans were, what I had been doing and how it all turned into a clusterfuck. Next came the hard part, explaining the Dark.

"We called it the dark because that's what it brought with it, darkness and depression. We have no idea what it is exactly, a portal opened up on four of the continents, from another world or dimension maybe, and well everything went downhill from there. My continent bordered on another one and that's where the portal opened up. What came out were these black as night creatures, they're about twenty-five feet long with their tail, have claws and teeth that were extremely sharp and they are fast, very fast. They have very large, leathery wings. We were never too sure how it got from them to humans but within a couple of days there was mass evacuation and in a month we firebombed all of that continent with some of our own but it slipped through somehow and it pushed us north though much more slowly, it actually took years and there are some places pushing back. The biggest problem are the people, not the infected. Anyway they have different stages of development. The first one is the runners, they don't change much other than a heightened aggression then its walkers. Takes a couple days after being bit then about a week for them to slow down. After that it's what we call fatties, they're bloated real bad, that's about a month to a month and a half.

"Then they turn into brutes, these guys are very tough to kill. Their skin turns very hard and are extremely fast with immense strength. Only good thing about them is that they are blind, but they have a really good nose, can smell you ten yards away and their hearing is slightly better than an average person. After that they either keep growing into giants which as far as I know never stop. In a different continent they killed one that had grown to forty feet tall. The one that was after me and my men before I arrived here was about twenty feet. If they don't keep growing then their bodies become an incubator for what we call dragons. They don't have wings but the claws and teeth are not something you want to meet and they can shoot a spike averaging two feet long from their tails." I finish with my description of the Dark and the room was silent, all four of them had worried expressions on their faces but I couldn't blame them.

"Well that is worrisome," said Celestia, "but if what you say is true than I would like you to stay here. In Equestria, in Ponyville and watch over that stretch of woods and the towns ponies. We shall return your weapons and bag, not the device with those vile images on it though. That needs to be disposed of. Lastly we will have a home built for you, to fit your size and needs along with 50,000 bits, which is our currency." She finished and I was impressed that this is what I would receive considering I had been in a cell for the last week not including all previous bullshit.

"What about for the remainder of the forest, will you have your military or guards patrolling the rest of its perimeter along with the occasional fly over with a platoon of pagasues or is the plural pegasi?" I asked this figuring I might as well get used to their language and way of talking.

"Pegasi or just pegasus," she responded as we all stood, "and yes my guards will watch over the rest of the forest."

"One last thing Captain, if you would please answer my student's questions about your people and culture it would be greatly appreciated," said the sun princess.

"Thank you, and I guess I will do as you ask since there is nothing for me to do otherwise until I or you can figure out how to get me back home."

"About that Richard, we did not feel any magic being used to bring you here, therefore we don't think we can help you. We have never come across a spell to go to different dimensions or different planets galaxies away," Celestia's words made me feel like throwing up. If they couldn't help then that meant that the stalker was the only one who could get me home and I didn't even know if it came through with me.

"Well… that is disappointing. I would like to change out of these clothes so uh… yeah can I have my bag back now." Everything felt unreal, like a dream. There was a small flash and all of my belongings including the two pistols which were mine appeared next to where I was sitting. They all filed out without saying a word.

With red rimmed eyes I leave the castle and make my way to the front gates of the wall around the city, and along my trip I was met with many stares. They didn't say anything but just stared. It brought back memories of one particular battle where my platoon had killed forty or so men who decided they didn't want to work anymore in the coal mines. Not one of my proudest moments but it happened and nothing was going to change that. We walked through those dead men's town and were met with stares. Enough of that Richard, get your shit together, they're staring at you because you are one ugly motherfucker to them. I pull my baseball cap lower.

After a nearly ten minutes of walking past staring ponies, oddly shaped building, and well just very odd… everything. I arrived at the gates to see a large carriage being pulled by… ponies, seriously. They do some weird shit. Ponies pulling carriages that have ponies inside of them. I get to the carriage where a pony opens it for me and low and behold those six special ponies are inside. Shaking my head I get inside and letting the rifle rest against the side of the carriage then I put my bag between my feet and lean back against the seat hoping they wouldn't talk to me. That hope was quickly smashed.

"Hi, I'm Twilight-,"

"I know who you all are, no need for introductions," I probably came off sounding angry, but then again I was angry along with depressed. "Listen I'm really tired and I don't feel like talking right now. I'll answer some of your questions when we get to your town." She nodded her head and I turn to my bag. Putting my hand in it and thinking of the tablet with all of my music on it made the tablet come to my hand. I had no idea how it worked and I didn't care to ever figure it out. Next I pull out a pair of headphones and plug them into the tablet. Going through the music until I found what I was looking and pushed play. Leaning back in the seat with my hat pulled down so that it covered the majority of my face I let sleep overtake me.

"I'm telling you we have to go after Anderson and his boys, they need to be executed for what they did to us, to this outpost," said a deep gruff voice through the door.

"What will that accomplish exactly? Nothing at all, what's done is done and killing them won't do anything," said a second voice this one higher in pitch but male. "Tell me you agree with what I'm saying Sara."

"Jake they killed two kids and Maggie is probably going to have a miscarriage because of them. I don't know about haunting them down though, that seems wrong. I say we wait until they come back and then take them alive if we can."

"Oh come off it," said the deep voice again, "there are plenty of bandit camps they can go to. When they come back they will bring bandits with them, and if you would have done as I said five years ago we wouldn't have bandits to worry about. If you two won't take action I'm going to, they wouldn't have gone far with Chris's leg and the storm. They're probably at the old cabin. I'm going to kill them, I'd ask you to come with but obviously your too pussy-footed to do what needs done." With that footsteps approached the door and the child hiding behind it scurried down the various hall ways of the school building and made his way back home.

Mere minutes after arriving a tall man entered looking fairly agitated and went straight to the very old rifle hanging on the wall. The boy's father took it down and then went to a dresser and pulled out a revolver and two boxes of ammo. He loaded five bullets into the rifle and loaded the revolver with six. He then put a bandolier with the rifles bullets over his shoulder while slipping three speed reloads into a small pouch on his belt. He looked at me and then the woman who just walked into the room.

"Look after your mom dick," he said to the boy and then he took the woman into his arms and kissed her deeply. The boy thought that was a bit nasty but didn't say anything. A knock came from the door and the man looking slightly worried now went to open it. There were six men outside with various weapons slung over their shoulders.

"Were going with you. That bastard and his sons deserve to be killed after what they did to Maggie," said the man in front. The man with the deep voice simply nodded and looked back at his wife and son then left out the front door. The woman walks over to the young boy and pulls him into a crushing hug then takes him off so that he could get ready for a bath before bed.

I wake up feeling slightly sick from the dream. I lean forward and slip the headphones to my neck and take my hat off so I could run my hand through my hair. The man had been tall six five, dark brown hair, clean shaven dark blue eyes, and his nose leaned to the right slightly. The boy had the man's general looks but with black hair and more grey in his eyes. The woman had stood at five nine with long black hair, green eyes, full lips, and well just pretty. Not knock you off your feet gorgeous, or a bombshell, but pretty.

"Are you okay," asked the voice of Twilight to my left.

"Yeah, just fine. Just dreams," was my response but I could feel that she wanted a better explanation. "Don't worry about it. I have a lot of 'em so I'm used to it." I knew that I shouldn't have said that because she was even more concerned as were her friends. "Seriously I am fine, don't start worrying about it."

"Sugarcube, there is something wrong and you can tell us," said Applejack. Gotta admit that southern accent was a bit cute, too bad it wasn't on a human girl. I wasn't going to start telling them my life story though.

"How much longer is it till we arrive in town," it was obvious that I was changing the subject but thankfully none of them pushed for an answer.

"We have about twenty minutes to go," Twilight said. It was only after she said this that it occurred to me that none of them had watches on. Did they even have watches? Figuring that I would ignore this particular question I turn the tablet off and put it, along with the headphones, back into the bag. Looking out the carriages window I could see long green fields that actually reminded me of my childhood. Hunting trips and outings with my father. At least we did those things until he was injured by a bullet that made him blind.

**AN: I have been procrastinating like a mofo but this chapter was longer than the previous ones by breaking three thousand words. Chapter six will be up by Sep. 8. **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

We arrived at their town and I was disheartened to see that so many of the brightly colored creatures were present. I was wondering whose smart idea it was to tell them about me showing up, then again it would be better to get it all done with right off the bat. Oh joy. We got out of the carriage and there were so many dramatic gasps I couldn't help but smile at it. Then came the many whispers which consisted of: 'wow its tall'; 'what is that thing over its shoulder'; 'what strange clothing'; and so on with different worded yet same remarks or just different things to say.

"Wow, ponies must have come from all over to see you," gasped Twilight and with that things went downhill, or maybe uphill depending on your thinking. I played meet and greet with easily over 400 of these ponies and by the 300 mark I was getting pretty tired and wanting them all to leave me alone. That wouldn't have left a good impression though so I smiled and said hello and told them that I was human and then pushed them on and told the next one the same damn thing.

After what had to have been at least three hours the six heroes of pony-fucking-kind and I arrived at Twilights tree house library. Sighing I swing my rifle off my shoulders with the bag shortly following. Moving over to the table in the center I set the items down and kneel in front of the table. Taking out my cleaning kits for the rifle and pistols, I take apart the rifle first. I had started off with an older version of the M16 when I was first recruited into the military but the process looked no different for this one and I wasn't disappointed. I had the rifle apart in less than four minutes with a rod and cleaning patch going down the barrel.

I finished the rifle and reassembled it but this would be the easiest firearm to clean. The .45 had six or seven mags through it before I got here. No big problem but it also appeared that it had been thrown in mud and sat there for almost a week, same thing with my .357 which had been reloaded eight times with speed loaders. So sixty to seventy rounds through the .45 and forty-eight rounds through the magnum. So yeah they were filthy and they would be a bitch to clean. I grip the slide of the handgun and pull and was met with more resistance than there should have been.

"Well fuck," the words were out of my mouth without thinking about the brightly colored creatures that were probably still in the room. Well screw it I don't care enough, at least not when I'm tired and have dirt caked guns to clean. I pull my music tablet out and start going through the music on it. Picking out five songs and two albums for my listening pleasure I push play.

Danny

I am a lion and I want to be free  
Do you see a lion when you look inside of me  
Outside the window just to watch you as you sleep  
'Cause I am a lion born from things you can not be  
How can I sleep at night there's a war inside my head  
I found a lion hidden right beneath my bed  
I will not hide myself from the tears that you have shed  
'Cause I am a lion, and you are dead

J3T  
Heres a story of everything we'll ever be  
You can hide but some of us can never leave  
And if you go I don't need those little things  
They remind me of all our little dreams  
Can you hear the words, all I can say  
We can watch the world even if they walk away  
Forget about tomorrow, tomorrow is today  
You where born a lion and a lion you will stay

Danny  
I am a lion and I want to be free  
Do you see the lion when you look inside of me  
Outside the window just to watch you as you sleep  
'Cause I am a lion born from things you can not be

J3T  
Remember an army of all those little kids  
Livin' life like they only get a little bit  
It's hard to fight when you're born in the middle-end  
I'd rather die then watch you givin' in  
I'm sorry daughter but you're fathers not the same  
I can look into your eyes and I swear that I will change  
But tomorrow is tomorrow so forgive me if I say you can hide  
Beneath the covers while I hide behind the pain  
After all only so much we can say  
Words can lose their meaning once you walk away  
Promise me that you'll love me, watch me as I fade  
I'll give you all the things that these lions never gave  
The hands on the clock and the things we cannot change  
Tearin' out the pieces and take back what I made  
If there's one thing I'd keep, it's you that I would save  
'Cause I am just a lion and a lion I will stay 

Danny  
I am a lion and I want to be free  
Do you see the lion when you look inside of me  
Outside the window just to watch you as you sleep  
'Cause I am a lion born from things you cannot be 

J3T  
Hey! I never meant to let go  
All I want and you're all I'll ever wanna know  
Can't hide in the attic of a pretty home  
Of a pretty home, of a pretty home  
Hey! I never meant to let go  
All I want and you're all I ever wanna know  
Can't hide in the attic of a pretty home  
Of a pretty home, of a pretty home  
Hey! 

Danny  
I am a lion and I want to be free  
Do you see the lion when you look inside of me  
Outside the window just to watch you as you sleep  
'Cause I am a lion born from things you can not be

I still hadn't managed to get the bloody slide off when the song ended and it was starting to piss me off. Sure I had another gun I could work on but the revolver was going to be probably more of a bitch than this one. Vuvu Hero started to play and I went back at it with a scowl on my face.

Two and a half hours later the pistols were finally done and cleaned, even better there was no rust what so ever on them. What really surprised me though when I actually came back to earth from my cleaning was that all six of the ponies were still sitting there watching me. Suddenly I was quite uncomfortable.

"What," I ask, I mean it was weird. No normal people… Richard these aren't human, they're ponies. You have to start getting this shit straight.

"So you're done with your… things," asked Fluttershy. It was a bit cute with how shy she was but the huge ass eyes were disconcerting. They showed too much emotion.

"Yeah-," that was as far as I got before the pink one jumped up and shouted that it was sleep over time. Someone shoot me. "Oh yay. Sleep over time," sadly it seemed that the pink was the only one that noticed that my reaction was less than excited but she shrugged it off. This all must have been decided and had been prepared for, while I was off in gaga land swearing at my guns and listening to my music. It used to be funny when the soldiers would keep doing things to see what they could get away with while I was cleaning. Shit I missed home.

"So first thing is makeovers," stated Twilight which for the most part was greeted with cheers except for me, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack.

"I'm not going to do a makeover, men don't do that where I'm from," and if they did they would have been called gay and probably shot. Funny thing actually, before it all went to hell gays were an accepted part of the community. Marriage, rights, and well just whatever. When it all went to shit then the old bigots came back out and they were in some areas hunted. "Anyway I would like to take a shower. Those guns were caked in dirt." Twilight points me toward a door which I proceed toward after grabbing my bag. After taking out body wash and stripping my clothing I step into the shower though it was actually a tub. It made sense because of how short they were but still it was awkward for me. After ten minutes I step out, put on fresh clothing which was composed of a short sleeve shirt with my old platoon's emblem, and a pair of levis. With my hair still damp I walk out to see that all six ponies, even Rainbow Dash, had those face mud mask things going on. Whenever I saw a human doing that I felt like slamming their head into something. Were in a living hell on earth and you are worried about keeping your looks. Made me sick.

"Howdy partner," exclaimed Applejack and Rainbow looked relieved that I had shown up. They were probably hoping that I would get them out of their makeover.

"Take your time, it's a sleepover right. These things go far into the night right," I ask hoping that the answer was a yes just so that I could see the tomboy and the farmer be so feminine. Honestly it didn't surprise me now that the tank crewmembers tablet had them on it as a couple. Speaking of those two the looks they gave me could kill, which was actually quite cute.

"Well we were going to play truth or dare next," said Twilight as a bottle appeared seemingly out of thin air. Fuck it there are talking ponies.

"I'd rather not play," this was answered with many groans and disagreement, "However I will answer a single question from each of you. You'll probably get more info this way instead of me playing." Rainbow looked disappointed but Twilight seemed to agree.

"Well, do all of your kind wear clothing all the time darling," I honestly thought that Twilight would of gotten the first one but instead it was Rarity.

"Yes we do, for multiple reasons. One of which is decency, another is protection from the environment," I was met with looks from the decency one but they at least seem to understand the protection. "Next question."

"Do you have apple orchards where you from," asked Applejack. From the looks the others gave her I wasn't the only one who thought the question was wasted.

"Yeah, we have apple orchards in some areas. Not very many though, but it seems like we have generally the same fruits and vegetables," the farmer seemed happy with my answer which made me think: what the fuck.

"What type of animal friends do you have, if you don't mind answering," asked Fluttershy. Actually Applejack's question didn't seem so odd or stupid because that was some information on the human diet.

"Well if you mean pets that would have to be dogs. I like cats but they can't save you. From what I have seen the animals are the same, which is weird since you are the dominant life form like mine is yet we have the same types of animals," my answer was jumbled but they got what I meant. This did however raise the question of whether or not this place just went down a different yet not quite so extreme evolutionary track, that is of course talking ponies who can fly and use magic isn't extreme.

"Ooo-ooo my turn, so do you have parties," Pinkie Pie nearly burst my eardrums and this question was useless… maybe not. I have no idea what Twilight would be interested in knowing or what the Princesses would want to know.

"No, not really. At least not for… years," Pinkie Pie looked sad as hell, "but when we did we were the loudest, rowdiest bunch of guys. I think one time we actually got another platoon to come over with their weapons because they thought we were being attacked or something. I can't remember, first time I had alcohol… never again am I drinking that much… ever." This last part was to myself but it seemed to perk her up so at least that was something.

"So can any of you fly," this question wasn't really that surprising but I had higher hopes that it wouldn't have something to do with herself. Then again Rainbow Dash was full of herself so maybe I shouldn't have been too surprised.

"We need a machine to do that. Airplanes we call them. There are a lot of different types. There's the kind that transport people, the kind that blow shit up, and then there is the kind that do both. There is also helicopters that kind do the same thing they just function different. The airplanes though could go extremely fast. In fact there was one that could break the sound barrier three times and almost go into space. We never used them though, they came before it all went to hell." I really should stop swearing and saying hell. I didn't want to explain what those words meant and I sure as hell didn't want to explain religion. That possibly fucked the human race more than the actual Dark did.

"That is so cool," Dash exclaimed.

"Why are you so accomplished in fighting," Twilight asked and I didn't get what she meant exactly. Accomplished at fighting. Yeah maybe with the knife and few could match me when it came to pistols but as for anything else forget it.

"How do you mean," I ask.

"Well you fought really well, so well that it seems that your kind were fighting before this Darkness came about, you did get training right," she elaborated. This made me pause, not sure how to answer this. She had a point but at the same time if humans hadn't been tearing each other apart for years we wouldn't of lasted a week.

"Honestly I don't have a good reason. My kind fought a lot, so much in fact that according to my father it was almost a normal thing. My father didn't like all the wars and he told me that most of them stemmed from difference in opinions, ethnicity, and the fact that some countries wouldn't leave others alone. They would try and get involved in affairs that didn't really concern them. Stupid reasons for a largely stupid species. For me though, it was a natural thing, I'm a natural fighter. I just caught the hang of using pistols after my father taught me and as for the knife… well like I said I'm a natural fighter. Anyway, Dash do some good dares for me."

**AN: Hollywood Undead-Lion Danny and J3T sang this song and I labeled which part they sang, also I was lazy as hell so I copied the lyrics from some site. I originally was going to do Absolute Territory by Ken Ashcorp but decided against it. Speaking of Ken he has done an MLP song called 20% cooler. You want to check out any song they are all on youtube, like just about everything else you might want to know. So hoped you like this chapter even though nothing much happened. Next chapter will have some history of Roderik. A lot longer chapter than I thought it would be. I ramble a lot. Next chapter will mostly likely be up by Sep. 22. I've started chapter 7 and so far I'm pretty sure that is going to be the longest chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Guys i am so sorry right now. my laptop got a virus on it and the guy had to delete everything so chapter 8 is gone. i will try and have it rewritten and up by 10-9-13 but as of right now im not going to promise it. once again i am very sorry.**

Chapter 7

While I didn't learn anything interesting about them Applejack did have to stand on her head for about ten minutes and twilight had to grow an actual beard. That shit is freaky, but mine was still better even if it was only slightly more than scruff.

"Scary story time," yelled the ever perpetually happy pink pony. Scary story time huh. Well this should be interesting to see what kind of "horror" they have here but considering that this was the land of happy and colorful ponies I didn't have high hopes. "I'll go first." She then proceeded to tell a story of a haunted oven that made bad cupcakes. Yeah that was scary alright, especially when the heroin threw a party for the oven which made it start baking good cupcakes.

"Well that was quite interesting Pinkie, but I got a better one," oh the competiveness in Rainbow Dash's voice made me cringe. Competition isn't bad but it can also go too far. I ended up zoning out leading to only hearing small snippets of her story. I think it had something to do with beating a bunch of ghosts. I don't know, something along those lines. It didn't sound scary but I could be wrong, after all Fluttershy was practically cowering. Next was Rarity with another ghost story I didn't bother listening to, then applejack with one about a stalker pony which was absolutely ridiculous since you don't need to sneak to a pony's bathroom window to see one naked. Finally it reached Twilight who started a story about Windigos. Foul creatures that are attracted to, well I guess a lesser form of hate. These ponies don't know what hate is but, yeah Windigos were attracted to hate and caused everything to freeze.

"How about you sugarcube, got any good stories," asked Applejack which was greeted with a large amount of agreement and encouragement. Alright than I would tell them a story but which one. Obviously Fluttershy was hoping for something that wasn't scary while the others were clearly hoping for one. Should I go for The Thing or maybe something not quite as bad? Cirque Du Freak maybe, that isn't exactly scary but maybe they would like it.

"I bet you have some cool stories being a captain and all," said Rainbow Dash and damn that pony because the agreement was even greater for this suggestion than Applejacks.

"I don't know, I-," that was it before the disapproval came sweeping down on me like an eagle. "Alright, alright I'll tell all of ya a story, just calm down and let me think." The only problem was that the only happy stories were of my childhood, before I was ten. Those were not very interesting because, well they just were not interesting. It was mostly learning math, English and whatever else they thought important. Of course I learned how to shoot a gun when I was eight and my father had called me a natural. Then my thoughts drifted toward Joseph "Cide" "Alright I got one but if you do not like it tell me and mind you this was before I joined the military."

* * *

The blackened ground was covered in a thin sheet of frost that crinkled when we walked across it. The older man walking next to me stopped and looked behind us, toward the direction of Elko, Nevada. Well what had been Elko, it wasn't much more than smoking ruble now. The broken windows and blackened hollowed out buildings a reminder not to cross Joseph aka "Cide". Following the man and his small band of killers was easy, the hard part was actually catching up to him. The man was like smoke. We could surround him, kill over half of his men but somehow he will just slip by. Actually that was something that the man looking back at Elko and Cide had in common. They were both like smoke, both could slip out of just about anything, and both would cut your throat if crossed, hell maybe even if you looked at them wrong. Only difference was that the man, Jason, would give you a "fighting" chance. Not much of a chance when the man could kill a bear with nothing but his ten inch, stainless steel knife that was strapped to his leg.

"We aren't taking him alive Richard. Fuck the bounty. We're going to kill him slow," when Jason says he is going to do something, it will be done and God help anyone who gets in the way. He turns back toward me and we start forward once again about a day behind the mass murderer. We walked for hours hoping that we would catch some sight of the man we were hunting but were having no luck.

Eventually we come across a barn that had somehow survived the harshness of the land. The paint on it was nearly gone and in the few splotches that were still there, they were faded so much that the best I could come up with was that it might have been red, or it may have been brown. Hell purple even. We approached the front doors and Jason grabbed the handle on the left one and I grabbed the right and we pulled in unison instantly drawing out pistols in case there was something inside but there wasn't anything except for dust and the strong smell of rot. I look to Jason and he shrugs and walks in looking around to see if it was safe enough for us to even stay the night.

"It's safe enough. Close the doors," small stiff sentences was how he talked and at first I wasn't sure if I liked it, hell still don't but it didn't draw the same reaction it once had. The feeling of unease. We set up our sleeping mats and start a small fire that brought comfort and dispelled some of the cold and melancholy. We stay like this for a few minutes when he speaks again. "Stand and prepare yourself," that such a simple command but those words made me instantly remember all of the training fights we had gone through. How sore and battered my body would get after some of them, the welts and bruises that would form. I grab the small bag I had and picked out the seven inch "knife". It was nothing more than a piece of wood that was shaped like a knife but they would still hurt if pressed hard enough against your skin, pushed into your stomach or back hard enough, it could leave those welts and bruises for days. He pulls out a red spray paint can and coats the "knife" with it along with a twin of mine that he used.

"Four hits on me. One hit on you." His logic was that if I could land four hits on someone without them landing a single one on me than I was good. We both go into a shallow crouch waiting for the other to make a move. I had learned long ago that launching the first attack on a human was a mistake. You wait for them to make the first move, which most of the time he would; however this could take up to hours and sometimes he would simply put his wooden knife away and we wouldn't have a practice fight. The point of the wait was to build patience. Never rush into a fight if it can be helped but when you're in one give it your all and don't hold anything back. Well Jason jumped right into it. No waiting, just launched into a flurry of slashes and stabs causing me to stumble back and hopefully out of the way of his ferocity.

He kept coming so I launch myself into a role to my right with the knife raised in a reversed grip. I was breathing heavier than I had been which was embarrassing when Jason wasn't breathing hard, in fact he acted like he hadn't moved an inch. I changed my grip so the blade was facing forward and slid into a smaller crouch than I had been in previously. With five feet between us we waited for the other one to make a move. After five minutes he charged forward again only this time I didn't panic, instead I kept my cool and let him slowly push me back. His flurry of attacks were too fast for me to counter on any of them. It was beautiful in a destructive force kind of way.

You may think that it is a bad idea to twirl around to do a slash and normally your right but at the same time you can add so much more force with the extra movement. It's all about timing, knowing your opponent, speed, and ferocity. Jason had all four but when he faced forward from a twirl his arms were stretched too far out giving me a small window of opportunity. Now most people wouldn't have noticed this opening, and if they did they most likely wouldn't have taken it. I did and stepped forward quickly moving my left hand to block his knife arm while striking out with my right. I felt for a quarter of a second the knife making contact, and hard contact at that before he moved himself back out of my reach.

He had a small amount of red paint right above where his ribs would have started. The stab would have hit his large intestine or stomach so while it wouldn't have killed him outright it would cause large amounts of pain and bleeding. Without proper medical care he would die. We were both obviously surprised and I didn't think Jason could be surprised by anything. This was the first time I had left a mark on him and a good one at that. Despite all of the training I had never come close to touching him. I was a natural with small arms and knives but this man had put me to shame every time and I had finally left a mark without receiving one myself. Of course he charges me again even harder going all out. He practically tackles me shoving his knife painfully hard against ribs and twisting my knife hand trying to make me drop it but couldn't. I had technically lost but I fight back trying to buck him off me but to no avail.

"Well there's a first time for everything. Next time follow up. Don't sit and think."

"Yes sir," my response was a bit breathless. He stands then pulls me off the floor and we walk over to where the fire was and sat. He pulls out a pot and opens a can of some soup. I stare into the flames while he prepares the meal.

"Are you still having those nightmares?"

"Yeah, sometimes." It was more than sometimes. The nightmares plagued my sleep almost every night and Jason knew it but he also didn't push it for which I was thankful for.

"What are they about?" This caught me off guard. While I had been with Jason for almost three months now he never showed much interest in me. In fact the only reason I was with him was because of a debt.

Two and a half months ago I was being hunted by a group of runners, they get into herds or groups, which in turn were being hunted by Jason. Of course I didn't know this. Well they cornered me in a room at a shitty single level motel and rushed me. I got four of the ten with a knife since my guns were empty of ammunition. After grabbing me they were about to dig into their meal but a man no more than 5'8 ran in slicing off limbs with a foot long machete. They were all killed in less than three seconds and I was about shitting myself. Instead of killing me he grabs me by my collar and threw me out of the room. I honestly thought he was going to do something besides killing me with the machete but instead throws a bag at me and points in a direction. I start walking with him following close behind. Long story short we arrived in a small outpost where he turned in a bounty on the runners and tells me that I would be working for him until I paid him off for saving my ass. The training had started a couple days after that and four bounties later we were in a barn waiting for daylight to continue our hunt for Joseph.

"My parents. They were killed a few years back at an outpost in Oklahoma. I got away with a few other people but they didn't," my voice was fairly void of emotion.

"People or Dark."

"People," it's always people. The Dark does a lot of damage but in a way they fit the Zombie stereotype. Cause the apocalypse then kinda become secondary to the threat of other people. "I don't want your sympathy Jason. I hate it." He nods his head and looks at me, almost seeming to be sizing me up.

"Your age?"

"Seventeen, listen why are you asking me this," I ask, slightly concerned at the attention. He didn't show concern and sure as hell didn't care about other people or their feelings. Hell I hadn't done much of anything for him to be interested in me.

"Just questions," always for the short responses. "Eat then let's sleep." We did just that.

* * *

"Now I thought ya said that ya were a natural, so what's this trainin business," asked Applejack with a semi confused look on her face.

"I am. You have no idea how hard it is to kill another creature that is bent on ripping your head off and using your guts for streamers. I killed four the day Jason found me, with a knife. Most people don't do that with a gun. They get scared and they freeze. Worst thing you can do is freeze. I do not freeze, I move. It might not always be in the best direction but there is always movement. That is what divides people like me from people like, well like Fluttershy. She will never kill someone. It is almost become second nature by now. Extra training never hurts though." This was not real to them, I could see it in their eyes. They do not understand the concept of killing, of death other than what is a natural one.

"It's everpony, somepony, nopony, I have no idea where people come from," said Pinkie Pie.

"No. I take it you want me to continue?" A resounding yes filled the air. Great.

"Add more detail though," shouted an excited Rainbow Dash. I had left out any mention of my parents. Okay I would add more detail, unless it concerned my parents or something I would much rather keep to myself.

* * *

"Cute," I said.

"Cute," asked Jason?

"Yeah, you know runner with a pickaxe in its spine in the arms of one of Cide's men who is missing half his head. It's just so damn cute." He simply shakes his head and moves further into the house. It was a two floor home, most if not all of the windows broken and the paint faded. Dust was thick, or was thick where there were not footsteps which there was many.

"What happened," asked Jason? This was one of the things that he did if we came to a scene of violence "what happened".

"Looks like a runner came out of there," I point to a doorway directly across from the bodies, "and the runner got his teeth into this poor fuck. One of his friends drove a pickaxe in its spine mostly likely killing it instantly. Finally someone, probably Cide himself, shot no face in the face." Damn I'm snarky in the morning. I lean a bit closer seeing that the blood and brains of this man had reached more than five feet down the hall. "Well do you want to check upstairs or shall I."

"You." I nod and walk to the end of the hall, turn around, and started up the stairs which creaked and groaned loudly. I went up slowly and making sure the step would take my weight before going up. There were only two doorways up here one of which was closed. I pull the five inch knife on my belt out along with the .45 on my left hip. I slowly make my way to the open door staying close to the opposite wall. I came to the doorway and looked in. I didn't see anything so I make my way inside checking my corners but the room was empty. Most of the carpet had been eaten away with time and various bugs. The walls had stains and holes in them. The room smelled of decay and had obviously hadn't been properly ventilated for some time.

I leave the room and to stand in front of the closed door. I crossed my wrists so that the blade was underneath the gun then I move my right leg back only to bring it up and forward toward the door. The middle of it giving way to my boot… and I was stuck. Instead of kicking the door off its hinges like in some of the old movies that I had watched my foot went through the door. I jerk my leg back only that did not work so instead I move my leg forward and straighten my foot. This worked but I almost regretted it as a strong horrible smell came through the door.

I grab the door handle and push which only caused the smell to intensify. I quickly grab my shirt and pull it over my mouth and nose hoping that it would block some of the smell. Proceeding into the room my eyes started to water at the intense smell of decomposing bodies. I check my right first seeing nothing then turn to my left and instantly pulled my shirt down and puked everything onto the floor. My body reeled back into the hallway with vomit still coming out of my mouth and nose albeit more of a trickle than a flood.

I felt strong hand grab me under the armpits and heave me down some stairs and outside, the fresh air exhilarating. The air could not shake what I had seen though. The bodies of three children… the oldest could not have been more than eight from the size, their old dried blood covering almost the entire back wall and most of the floor. One of the bodies had been missing arms and its stomach eaten out. The second had no head and had been missing a part of the left leg from the mid-thigh down. The last one though, I am pretty sure it had been a girl had spikes driven through the arms into the wall behind it. The legs had been spread apart with spikes through those and into the floor. A fourth body was leaning against the wall, the physique of a grown male. There was a shotgun laying on the floor next to the headless body, the decomposing toe still in the trigger guard. The bodies were not older than a couple of weeks old.

"Richard take deep breaths and look at me," the longest sentence I had heard Jason say and in the gentlest one as well. I look up at him seeing what could possibly be considered concern in his dark brown eyes.

"Why. I know humans are beasts but that… that," I could not finish my sentence.

"The Dark should have been quicker. Finished us off. Every man is an animal. It just depends on what kind. Some have them, beasts. They don't hide. Just out in the open for all to see. Then you have the kind like us, Richard. The ones that can hide it. Sometimes we lose control. We're more dangerous than the normal rabble, mostly because a lot of them don't have it. Ours are not beasts but monsters. Our instinct takes over. Our primal hate and thirst of blood. We kill cause we like it."

* * *

"I am exhausted. I will finish this at another time, maybe tomorrow night if you all want me too," I say as I raise and stretch feeling my back pop in several places.

"What did Jason mean exactly," asked Twilight.

"I think he meant that everyone has the ability to do bad. We all have monsters in us. Some just don't hide it, while others can. That some will never face that beast in them," I answer. I hadn't told them exactly what he told me, but an abridged version.

"Hav, have you faced it," asked Fluttershy in a scared voice. I never cared what others thought of me. Whether they feared and hated me or praised my name. Admittedly it was more of the former, but hearing it come from her hurt.

"I have come close a few times, but never has it come out. Good night." I walk over to my bag and pull out a sleeping mat and a pillow. I would need to purchase a new one soon. I roll the mat out on the other side of the room and laid down with my back facing them. I let sleep take me over while thoughts of my own monster invaded my head.

**AN: so I sort of lied and sort of didn't. This is the longest chapter so far at over thirty-five hundred words but not as long as I thought it would be. I might take his history over a three chapter arc mostly because I would like to keep things within a 2,200-3,500 word count though I might be making an exception for this arc. I tried to add more detail to this than I had with previous chapters so hopefully that was accomplished. I really hoped you all liked this chapter along with the rest of the story. Finale thing is this: I am thinking about adding another human character. So if anyone actually reading this would want that leave a review or PM telling me yay or nay along with gender. As of right now I'm not sure how big of a role their gender will play if it even does but it'll definitely change the back story on them though. **


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Ah think he was lien ta us," I heard a southern accent say. That would be Applejack if I have their voices and stuff down so I kept my breathing even and waited to hear more.

"What makes you say that Applejack," asked Twilight?

"Well ah can just tell when he's lien, ah can feel it," she responded and that right there was bullshit. I didn't outright lie about anything other than one thing. Everything else was edited so as to not make them afraid of me or things that they didn't deserve to know.

"Well he seems cool enough," said the cracking voice of Rainbow. So far they are backing me up against their friend which is weird. Apparently loyalties are not something that is strong here, well either that or they are just too trusting because the only ones to make me worried are the two princesses. I take a massive stretch and yawn before sitting up. I pretend that I didn't hear anything that they said and I then stand before grabbing my bag and going to Twilight's bathroom to change into something more fitting to fight in. I slip on a long sleeve shirt that while thick actually kept me quite cool same with the pants. The boots came next, too bad I hadn't gotten a new pair because these ones were getting old.

Next was a vest that against bullets or knives would protect my torso. Odd that when it comes to things trying to eat you vests are quite useless. I walk out of the bathroom feeling relatively relaxed mostly due to the fact that I was about to start my new job. Fuck. Fuck it all to hell. I am not happy, I am not relaxed but what I am is pissed, and depressed. I want to go home and I want to be with my people not with a bunch of fucking horses. I slip my arm through the sling on the rifle and get the duel holster belt around my waist and then turn toward the door. With a smile upon my face I walk out the door with-out glancing at the southern bitch and start making my way to their forest. On second thought I probably should not have walked through the center of town. I was getting a lot of stares.

When I was about a fourth of the way there a rather large chariot came down from the sky with Luna aboard. It landed and Luna stepped off the chariot and made her way over to me. I perform an exaggerated bow with much twirling of my arms and such. She gave me a small smile which I returned.

"So where is thou heading?" the way Luna talked was odd but also slightly sexy. God that's odd to think that.

"To the forest," I say, "I am going to go hunting for any more infected and whatnot."

Maybe find me a stalker and see if I can have a sit down conversation with it and send me home. I wish.

"I've sent my guards to watch over the forest today, so how about we go and see your homes location." I don't think she was used to speaking normal like.

"Alright, another day off is always appreciated." We start to walk down the road with her guards behind us about twenty feet, ten feet apart. It was a slow stroll and she asked me how I liked Ponyville as of right now and how much I liked the six that I had come with. "Well the reception was a bit overwhelming and I am pretty sure Applejack does not like me. She thinks I am a liar,"

"What would give her those thoughts," Luna asked with a somewhat confused face. At least I think it was confused. I mean their eyes show so much emotion but they are miniature horses.

"They wanted to know a bit about my past so I told them some and because I did leave out a few things she thinks that I lied."

"Well did the others notice?"

"No but she felt that it was in their best interests to think that I am a dishonest person." We walk for maybe another twenty or so minutes before we arrive at a good sized area right next to the woods. "Do creatures come out of the woods often?"

"The ones needing to be feared stay deep in the Forest," her answer brought some comfort to me but not much. So far the ponies had managed to get the foundation down and now it looked like the walls were going up next. The house was going to be fairly big. I looked over at the crew that was here and it was then that I noticed that they had a fucking crane. I shake my head not really wanting to bother with how that works and walk over.

"Hello, my name is Roderik," they look at me and the one I take to be the foreman walks over at sticks out his hoof. I look at it for a couple of seconds before reaching down and giving it a quick shake. There was a sensation of my hand being squeezed, another thing that I am not going to bother figuring out. He gives me a quick smile. "So how big is this going to be?"

"Well it'll be forty-four hundred feet and on top of that it'll have a second story slightly smaller than that," I think my brain froze for a few seconds. At most I only had a twenty by twenty room with the actual average being a ten by ten. Anything bigger than a twenty by twenty I had other people in the same room yet this forty-four hundred plus home was all mine. The thought of having so much room was slightly daunting. It also made me a quite happy as well, no more hearing noises of others. I turn back to Luna.

"Thank you so much. I do not think I have had so much room in my entire life to call my own," my voice came out slightly higher than usual and Luna gave a small chuckle.

"Well we thought of your size you would need a lot of room," the answer made sense but damn that was a lot of room to give me. "Did thou finish telling the tale," the sudden change of subject caught me off guard.

"No, I got a bit more to go on it," did she want to listen to it. I lift my chin hoping that she would get the message that I wanted space from the construction ponies. She did get it and we started to walk back to Ponyville. "If you want to listen than I am going to warn you that you are going to get a heavily edited version."

"That would be okay. I would like to learn about thou's past," oh joy, "and I'll respect thou's choice in keeping the past in secret." Well at least she would not been prying. We get to the road that I had taken through the town when the screams of ponies and the roars of something else reached us. Life is never easy. I start jogging while at the same time getting the butt of the rifle against my shoulder. The sounds were coming from the center of town and within in a couple of minutes I had reached the commotion.

Buildings were damaged though really it was only cosmetic and nothing structurally however I could not say the same for a few of the bodies lying around. One of the ponies was definitely dead with its head turned half way around but the others just looked badly hurt. The thing or rather two things causing the chaos were pretty much gargoyles. Looked like a lion, a scorpion tail and it had wings. The fuckers could fly that is just great. The good news was that they were fighting and not just mindlessly killing the weak defenseless ponies.

"Thought you said creatures did not come in this far," I say turning to Luna. She had kept up with me while I jogged and did not use her wings. I thought for sure she would have. She merely shakes her head. I turn back only to notice that the freak that had been on top and gotten off the other one and was now staring at me. I guess it was female and was a feminist from the way it was looking at me. It was also foaming at the mouth and was twitchy all the while breathing hard and letting out little growling noises. The other one had been hurt and badly by the looks of it. It was still breathing and actually moving around a bit but considering that its wings were torn to bloody shreds. The first started moving forward and then with a sudden burst of speed launched itself at us. I quickly rolled to the side not and quickly got to my feet running for the nearest doorway. I do not know what the princess did but I was going somewhere that it would not be able to get me easy.

I get to the door of what I am assuming is a doctor's office. I did not get much of a chance to look at the window before I kicked the door and dived inside but the window had a Dr. on it. Choosing to go inside of a building was a good idea especially because it had come after me. It could not fit but it did keep slamming its shoulders into the doorframe. The walls were actually cracking under the beast's assault. Well time to put a couple of 5.56x45mm bullets into its face. The noise form the gun was loud but not too bad however the damage to the bitches face attacking me… well it was satisfying. The first bullet had gone through the left eye effectively popping it and destroying the brain the second round had hit about an inch and a half above that and to right of the eye causing the things forehead to cave in.

The body hit the ground with a thud and I put another couple of rounds into its head. After reading Cujo I was not going to take any chances with rabid animals. I walk over the body and head to the other one whom I saw was making some head way out of town I quickly get to within twenty feet of it before planting two rounds into the back of its head. It was suddenly very quiet which was a bit odd considering that not twenty seconds ago there was mass hysteria. Ponies are weird.

I walk over to the downed creature and nudge it with my foot and was satisfied that it was dead. Princess Luna walked up beside me and looked at the thing and she let out a small sigh and then I caught the sound of a whimper behind us so I turn and spot Fluttershy standing there. Great just fucking great. I take a couple of steps toward her only for her to turn and start running down the street presumably to home. Of course now the orange mare was walking in my direction with a scowl on her face. God do you hate me or somethin, seriously this is getting ridiculous.

"Do not even fucking start with me little miss pissy. Would you of liked me to just let these things tear apart the town," the venom in my voice makes her stop advancing.

"Well Fluttershy coulda calmed down these manticores," she said. (**Just imagine a southern accent)**

"You cannot reason with something that has rabies. They are mindless beasts and since that one got bit it would just turn into another mindless beast so do not go all high and mighty with me. I guess you did not see that one foaming at the mouth and shit," it really did not help that she was already on my bad side. I wonder how much trouble I would get into if I pistol whipped her. "Luna can fix this," with that I start heading toward Fluttershy's home. Within a few minutes I was at her door and I give a light knock. Nothing happened for close to a minute but then the door opened. I look down expecting to see a pink mane covering a face and instead I am greeted with what looks like a very angry rabbit.

Stepping over the rabbit I make my way inside and I am almost immediately kicked in the shin by the little fur-ball of shit. I look down at the rabbit again only and he goes in for another kick I reach down and grab it by the ears. I then chuck the little creature out the door. It landed with a comical bounce on its behind and a chuckle escapes my throat. I quickly go up the stairs and greeted with soft crying. Oh goody. I push Fluttershy's door open slowly and I see her on top of the bed that had held me no less than a week and a half ago. The bed sinks a bit when I sit on it and put my arm around her shoulders and pull her close to my side.

"I bet your angry with me but let me explain please," my voice is quiet, "where I am from when an animal is acting like that and foaming at the mouth it means that it is very sick. We call it rabies. What I saw was an animal with rabies and the only way to even help them is to put them down otherwise they just live in pain. The other one, the other manticore got bit and that is how rabies are spread. I am very sorry if I over reacted. I do not know if you have some way to cure or prevent rabies but I acted in what I felt was the best way. I only try and protect the innocent and if that means I have to put down a violent animal than I will."

She cries for a little bit longer but eventually the sobs stop and she just lets the tears flow quietly and eventually they stop too. She looks up at me and puts on a small smile. "I forgive you," she says in what was now her trademark voice. I smile back really hoping that she meant it.

"Alright, let us go back to Twilight's home and I can finish that story if you think you're brave enough."

"Oh, I'm not sure if I am," a chuckle escapes my throat but she gets off her bed and we make our way to her friend's home.

**AN IMPORTANT: well the first time I wrote chapter 8 he was a bit angrier and there was less violence but I think I like this version much better. So before my laptop got a virus on it (never watching porn again) I actually had this chapter done and chapter nine then I started writing something else and got like close to eight thousand words I think on that so if the writing style in this chapter seems different and kinda weird it's because the writing in the other one was quite a bit different and I was trying to keep this one the same as the previous chapters in this story only I might have failed in doing so. ENOUGH RAMBLING. Chapter nine will be given a soul on 10-27-13. **

**AN SIDE-NOTE: I've decided that the less important things will be put into the side-note category so yeah I feel that Richard Roderik is a bit of a phyco. Not exactly how I thought he would turn out but oh, well. **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Fluttershy and I got back to Twilight's home and we walked inside to see that the rest of her friends present and even Princess Luna herself. I tilted my head down at her and was greeted with a distasteful look from Applejack. I give her a smirk that I really hope made her blood boil.

"Twilight has informed me of what thou spoke of before," still not quite sure if that voice is sexy or not but it did not matter. I will never fuck a pony unless I am really, really drunk. Unfortunately that is a possibility considering I have a few bottles of wine and other alcoholic beverages in my bag. I am not an alcoholic but I cannot help myself once I am mildly buzzed. If it keeps flowing I keep drinking. Enough about that. We sit ourselves down and I make sure that I am not close to that jackass orange pony. (**Get it? jackass. God I have no life)**

"Alright where did I leave off at," I ask looking at Twilight though she did not answer.

"You were leaving that atrocious sounding house," Rarity said to my left.

"Right, okay. So it was about four days later that we came across a small village and that is where the beginning of the end started." They sat quietly staring at me.

* * *

**(AN: remember that this is exactly what happened to Richard Roderik and not what he exactly tells them. He gives the ponies an edited version that is less bloody, vulgar, less personal, or shows him in a better light.)**

The town was maybe a mile or two away. "Race you," I say before taking off at a jog. The town was a mile and half and I lost the race but only because I tripped. The town was small and actually quite shabby but it also had a homey feel to it. People walked around the street and haggled with the various venders.

"Go to the bar. Find out what you can," ah those small sentences, how I love them. The bar was about half way down the street and looked just as shabby as the rest of the town. I walk up to the door and give it an experimental push and was happy to see that it swung open. The inside was actually well lite, which was a nice change from the other bars I had visited in the past and I immediately went to the counter to get a beer or two. I looked at the menu and saw a few good ones and a few bad ones.

"Wha can ah get ya," asked the bar keep while I pulled out ten or so .22 bullets.

"Sweetwater," he grabbed a bottle out from under the bar and took the bullets in his hand and dropped them into a bin that was underneath the counter. I looked around seeing if there might be anyone that could have information but I did not see anything. I stayed by the bar waiting for Jacob to come in or a fight to break out, it was only around six a 'clock or so but you never know when something interesting will happen. Soon enough a fight did break out, a big guy and another big guy. The first guy, he had a snake on his forearm threw a punch that landed with a crack causing quite a bit of blood to escape the other man's nose. The second man fell to the floor and snake started to beat him mercilessly and soon enough blood was pooling around a dead man's head. It was a sickening sight but not something that was uncommon in bars. I had seen my fair share of this bullshit before I met Jacob. Leaning back on the counter a man approached me. He looked well to do as in he was not covered head to foot in dirt and grim like most people, he also had a young girl on a leash right behind him.

"I am not interested in what you got to sell," I said before he even opened his mouth.

"But sir this young women," the girl could not have been older than seventeen if that, "is a virgin."

"Well I do not like virgins, they make quite a mess the first time," I lowered my voice just a bit trying to get my point across that I was not interested. I felt bad for the girl though, this obviously was not by choice. Some women did it, hell some even made a good living off it but not this girl. She was abused, could see it from the bruises on her arms and face, the make-up not even covering it up.

"I don't think you know what you're talking about sir, a young man like yourself. A hundred and fifty high caliber rounds and she is yours," he had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face when he said that it was hard to keep from punching him but I did not want to attract a scene. Of course that was kind of going to shit any way thanks to him. He took another couple of steps closer to me, close enough that I could smell stale smoke on his clothing and that he had yellow decaying teeth. The man was in his forties but looked older. He may have been cleaner than everyone else but not healthier. I leaned harder against the bar when I felt a small pinprick against my stomach. I take a quick glance down and see that he had managed to pull a knife on me. Honestly I was stunned that he managed to do this and I was very angry with myself that I had not noticed the movements. I was too focused on his teeth. I look back up.

"What do you want, bullets fine you can have the .22s," my voice was steady so it hid my anger not that it was directed at him, well a little bit was but mostly at myself.

"No I want the bullets for that revolver and that other big gun on your hip. NOW!" He shouted when I did not move right away. I start taking bullets out of the gun-belt and soon enough eighteen rounds of .375 were in his hands. I look past him at the other people in the bar not that I expected them to help me I just wanted to maybe see if they would help him. "The big gun too," the man was on something, he had to be by the amount of sweat coming off him. I pull the .45 up and bring it up to eye level while holding it by the barrel. His seemed to brighten a little bit then it was gone and replaced by agony as I blew his knee out with my revolver. He crumpled to the ground screaming and holding his now crippled leg. I look at every one else in the bar daring them to do something but none did. I was about to replace both guns back to their places when the crack and bangs of guns filled the air. The man lying on the floor in front of me jerked and twisted as bullets ripped him to pieces, blood, bits of bone, and chunks of meat were blown out of him.

A lot of it splattered my boots but kept still until the noise stopped and the body went still. I look over at the men responsible for the over kill and saw the man that Jacob and I had been hunting for over a long time. Joseph "Cide" stood there with four of his men. When the rest of the people took notice of the men they got up in fled knowing who he is and the rest followed trusting in the others reactions. The five men, the bar keep, the girl with the leash around her throat, and myself were now alone. The five men holstered their weapons and moved over to the bar while Cide walked up to me the man was a giant, easily over six five, at least two hundred and thirty pounds if not more and mid-thirties. I would like to think that no one scares me but Cide did scare me and I could not but help shake a little in his presence. This man was a mass murder yet just being in the same room it was like the walls demanded me to show respect to him.

"Why you shakin boy, if I wanted ya dead you would be," his voice was haughty and filled with happiness yet it was deep and powerful demanding that you listen to it. I calm myself before looking up and into his face, his eyes. His face spoke of being happy and carefree while his eyes held a maniac hate and coldness. We had this small staring contest which ended when he started laughing and this was also filled with happiness and it chilled me to the bone. He slapped his hand onto my shoulder and turned me around so that I was facing the bar. "Anythin you want boy." The bar keep instantly brought out another bottle of Sweetwater and placed in my hand. I give him a small smile and he returns it before it is wiped off his face and replaced with worry. The bar keep knew who Cide was and was afraid though he did a good job of keeping it off his face.

"So where ya comin from boy," he asked, his men were quiet and were keeping a watchful eye on me. Not that I could blame them after all they watched me knee-cap a man.

"I came in from the East, just been trying to find some where to rest up for a few days until I can make my way up to Northern California, maybe even go up into Oregon or Washington," I had rehearsed this particular lie many times, even before I had met Jacob and it seemed that they bought it which was nice. I took a large swallow of the Sweetwater. It was not sweet but it was smooth so that was something and after setting the bottle back onto the scarred counter the door swung open with three men walking in. I look at them and was happy to see that one of them was Jacob. The other two must have been the authority of the shabby town. They did not look like much and as far as I could tell were scared to even be in the same room with Cide.

"Ah ya three are here. Yeah this man was going to urt this young boy here so me and my men stepped in. I'll have my men clean up the mess," he had a small friendly smile which after the things that this man had done seemed strange to me. I look back at Jacob and saw that he was reaching for the pistol on his side and then he thought differently about it because he just nodded his head and turned on his heel and left. The others followed without saying another word. I take another large swig out of the bottle and then take a closer look at the girl that the dead man had been trying to force me to buy. She was about five eight with mid-back long brown hair and gorgeous green eyes. I pull out my knife and she flinches but I ignore it and instead pull her forward and cut the leash off. I tip my knife to the door and she bolts for it. Thankfully no one shoots her and I turn back to Cide and he gives me a small smirk. "How bout ya join us boy, you got nothing here if you're passin through." I give him a hard look but I was seriously thinking about it, I mean this would be a perfect chance to get near him, drive a blade into his back I would just have to hope that Jacob would follow.

* * *

"So know ya joinin the stallion yer suppose ta kill," said Applejack with a look that spoke about how she thought about me in at this moment.

"It is called deceit Applejack," I say, "something that wins wars, wins battles, wins fights and that is what it takes a lot of the time. I get it you are some kind of honesty freak but lying does have its place in the world or at least in mine." I glance at Luna and she nods her head just slightly to my unspoken question.

* * *

"Alright, is there something I will need to do," I ask my voice not the steadiest.

"Nah, we aint some gang that beats the shit out a ya," he says this as if I am stupid and maybe the question was stupid but this man is a psychopath. I give him a nod and he and his men stand then a motion from his hands send me in front and out the back of the bar. There was a large group of men there, about thirty or so which of course this would just make things so much harder, I have no intentions of dying at the hands of this fuck or any of his men.

"Where we heading to," I ask.

"Outa town, we got a camp set up bout a mile or so," Cide says and I cannot but help grimace a little at his voice. "They got us supplies." They did get supplies, about two wagons worth. We start walking and I am introduced to all of the men and even though I try to remember all of their names I cannot. The four that had gone into the bar with him though, I remembered their names because they were in charge when Cide has gone somewhere to be without company. Eric, Jason, Shane, and Lorenzo. They were all big men and had the biggest guns with Eric holding a shotgun along with Shane and Lorenzo had an LMG and Jason had an SMG but he also had about four grenades on him too. We walk the mile and there was quite a bit of talking and asking questions about myself. I bullshited them on the majority of them with rehearsed lies, that is what my life became after I lost everything, lies.

We stopped and Shane guided me over to a tent and told me I would be bunking with him. I did not mind I just hope that maybe Jacob would come in the middle of the night and cut at least half of the throats here. The night passed away and the sun came up in the East again and we set off toward a forest about two miles out of our camp. It was an easy hike but then we had to distribute all of the food and gear they picked up. I would have to guess that we all had to carry about thirty pounds worth of goods. It was not too much of a hassle but still it was not something that I really wanted to do especially because I was not planning on staying with them long. I did not let that show though. It was mid-day when we stopped and had lunch and then it was back to hiking. It was around six when we noticed that the sounds in the forest had died down to nothing

We moved ahead cautiously but some of them men were not like me or Cide and his main group. We did not make a sound while walking over the ground but they did, every few feet a small crack or the crinkle of leaves would be heard. I could tell that Cide was getting agitated with the sounds but he kept his mouth shut figuring that it would be best to be quiet. Half an hour passed when they came running or walking out. The infected, and the damned with their shrieks and yells chilling us all to the bone. The men in front did not stand a chance and within seconds five were down and everyone else was opening fire. I pulled the .45 out of its holster but I did not join in the reckless shooting but started running back and away from the fighting as did Cide and his four. We ran for close to an hour and I had been forced to turn and shoot a couple of runners that were getting to close for comfort. We came to a small dell and then we turned and watched as twenty-three men came running out with hells dogs following. I emptied the .45 and then switched to the .357 and every bullet dropped one, sometimes two if the bullet went through.

The fire fight raged for almost ten minutes but I had ran out of ammo by the five minute mark. I pulled my knife and stood ready for one to come at me and eventually one did. It was simple really, just step to the side at the last second and plunge the knife into its heart. The force from the thrust and the momentum from the running it was lifted off its feet. Then another and another. I was lucky that I got them one at a time. Three more men went down in the dell, torn apart into shreds and hunks of bloody meat, but we came out on top. Cide was beside himself in anger and everyone stood well away from him.

"We goin back, stayin at the ah, ah the fuckin farm house we came across and then we're, we're goin to get more supplies and then we're goin through again," he could not even speak properly because of his anger. We did as he said and started walking back out of the woods. We lost a lot of the gear, most of the men had dropped the stuff so that it would not slow them down. All in all only Cide's group had kept their packs. I had dropped mine after the first mile of running away, about five and half minutes from when they came out from behind the trees. It was well after dark when we got this farm house that he had mentioned and I, along with just about everyone else fell asleep almost immediately when we got inside.

* * *

"It must have been very scary," said Fluttershy during a pause in my story.

"Yeah, it was but there have been worse times, there are always worse times," the last part more to myself than to any of them.

"How can ya just talk about them stallions getting killed like that, like it's nothing," always Applejack.

"There comes a point where you let it break you, and you die, or you get used to it and live," she had nothing to say to my answer and Luna seemed to know exactly what I meant. Why does it seem like she is more comfortable around this, the concept of killing then the smaller ponies?

* * *

Afternoon sun hit my eyelids and woke me up. I blinked a few times and was momentarily shocked to see that over half of the remaining men that had fought yesterday were gone. "They left, back to that asshole of a town," answered one of the six guys still here when I asked him. I started to explore figuring that it was better than nothing. It had an upstairs, a large kitchen and living room. One odd thing that I found though was that there were boards on all of the windows. I went up the stairs and looked into the various bedrooms and decided that they had a teenage son, two daughters. Well actually I do not think parents were here. The final room housed something that an old person would have their room be like. I left the upstairs and found stairs going down into the cellar. I did not bother going down there and instead strike up conversations with the others and found things that made me think that killing Cide would be very easy emotionally. I know the man is a monster but the shit he has done that never got out, the man was a sadist of the highest degree and I just smiled and laughed with the guys about how the remembered how Cide rapped and then cut a girl apart in front of her parents. How Cide made a man eat his wife by forcing pieces of her down his throat and then fucked the headless, limbless, gutless corpse. The men were no better, some participated in the acts against nature or they did their own thing. Every single one of them deserved to burn in hell.

Soon night fell and the guys lit lanterns to give us light. The fire flickered. They used a slow burning, yet extremely hot, oil and they figured that they could last till morning if they burned just one at a time. Cide and the others still had not gotten back. It was three in the morning that I awoke and I decided that now was when I should do it. I took one of the unlit lanterns upstairs and let the oil leak out of it and then I splashed it against the walls and ceiling. I walked back down and got another unlit lantern and started to let the oil leak around the sleeping men getting some of it on their blankets. Finally when that one was done I grabbed the lit lantern and then smashed against on one of the sleeping men and instantly he was ablaze and screaming. The other men woke up at the same time only now they were starting to burn I backed out of that room and left out the front door but I did not leave its porch. I grabbed a bench and wedged it underneath the fancy door handles making sure none of them would get out that way and hopefully they would be too panic to leave out the back.

I took a step back from the doors when a flaming body slammed against the glass and he did so repeatedly. It was the third hit that shattered the pane of glass. He still did not get out but he did cut the living hell out of his arms, face and sides trying to. I walked off the porch and turned back around watching the fire spread to the second story and soon enough the windows up there turned black and then shattered from the heat. I was about to walk away when the barrel of something was thrust into my lower back and I froze. The man holding it came around to my side and the Cide walked in front of me facing the house, his shoulders heaving and then he started to yell and scream at what he was seeing. I heard footsteps to my left letting me know that another man was present.

"You fuckin cunt," Cide yelled as he turned around and then I noticed that he was missing an eye, a couple of teeth, and there many cuts on his body. His shirt was crisscrossed with them and blood covered most of it. "You know what happened when we got back to that shithole of a town? They tuned on us. The whole lot just started killing us, like we were animals. No they are the animals. I'm a savior of men. I let them be what they are suppose to be. We taught them a lesson though, but as you can see," he gestures to his face and body, "one of them didn't want to go quietly." It was weird. His speech was different then it had been at the bar and in the forest. Did Cide have different personalities or something? "I killed him though, made em suffer for what he did." My stomach felt like it dropped and I felt tears spring to my eyes. Only one man could get that close and do that damage to him. "Three of us got out. Me, Shane, and Lorenzo but Lorenzo lost his arm. Oh you goin to cry now boy. Did you lie to me, did you have friends in that shitty little place? I caught that girl, I took some of my frustrations out on her. I let her live but she won't have arms." He erupted into laughter and then it fell into a coughing fit. Tears streamed down my face at feeling another close person die. One more person that I considered a family member. Jacob was all I had. "Kill him."

I felt the barrel of the gun against the side of my head and then, faster than I thought I could I reached up and bent backwards as a shotgun went off. The sudden flash blinded me and the noise deafened me, and I could feel the sudden heat but I did not let go and instead dove at Shane. We fell to the ground with the barrel still in my grasp and began to slam my fist down bringing the barrel with me. It made a sickening crack against something but then I was lifted off him and on to my back. I blink a few times clearing my sight and I turn and I see the dark figure of Cide standing over Shane. I look at him too and see that I must have him in the throat. I pull out my knife since I did not have any more ammo for my pistols and then I remembered Lorenzo. I look at his body which was still and I assumed that the shotgun blast had struck him. Then I was lifted off my feet and onto my back Cide grabbed my wrist making me drop the blade and then he landed to vicious blows to my face. I felt my nose break and blood flow from. The dark sky suddenly brightened as the sun came up allowing me a better sight at the man throttling me. His hands moved to my throat and slowly started to squeeze.

He was going to make this slow and soon enough the world started to fade just a little bit and then some more and then more. I struggled but it was really pointless. _Come on, come on do something, anything. Really this is how you are going to die. On your back and not on your feet. On your terms. You killed seven, eight, in less than an hour and you are going to allow this piece of shit strangle you to death. Come on, come on, COME ON. _The world suddenly snapped back into view and crystal clear at that except the colors were faded, dull as if they were old and the sounds were the same. They were simple background noise like in a bar when you are not paying attention to the conversations around you. My right hand curled into a fist and I slammed it into his elbow pushing it further than it should go. His arm now useless he let me go and screamed except it did not seem loud. I grabbed his torn shirt and pulled him close tearing it further and slammed my fist into his head shattering his something, I could feel his face give under my hand. His jaw also looked wrong, it was way too far to the right. I bring my knees up to my chest causing his body to be pushed up onto them and then I kicked out launching him away from me. His body landing at least two yards away. I get to my feet I walk the over to my knife and I pick it up and walk toward the downed man.

* * *

"So what did you do to him," asked Dash bringing me out of the silence that I had fallen into.

"What," I ask still not all there.

"What did you do to him," she asks again.

"Nothing, just so happened a group of men came along and killed him for me," I answer.

"Now that right there is horse apples. You aint that strong and no group of men," she says men like it is a curse, "came along and killed him."

"Our brains do not let us use everything that we have. We would just end up damaging our own bodies. Many of my race have suddenly gotten a spurt of strength or speed because the brain decided to fight for life. If we had full access to our muscles we would be tearing them off our bones and doing only God knows what kind of other damage. Do not act like you know anything about humans or what we are capable of," my voice had risen at the end but I could see that she was just not getting it.

"Well I don't believe ya when ya say the fire was an accident. Ah think you did that," she yelled at me.

"You know what you are right. I have not been honest with you. I lit that fire and then I laughed while those six men burned to death in that house and then when I picked my knife up I walked over to Cide and slowly and very painfully cut his heart out. He did not even die right away. Is that what you want to hear Applejack that I am some sadistic monster?"

"No, ah want the truth and that wasn't it either, at least not all of it. Ah, ah couldn't really tell on that one," she said looking slightly worried now at her confession and I jumped on the chance presented to me.

"So you really do not know. You do not know because I am not some fucking pony. You for whatever stupid ass reason decided that you did not like me and anything that comes out of my mouth is a lie," she looked confused and slightly ashamed now.

"Well maybe," she finally said after a few minutes. I give a snort then get to my feet and walk outside. It was now nighttime and then the library door opened. I did not want to talk to any of them and was about to say as much.

"What did thou do to Cide," asked Luna. I turn to look at her and then I started walking down the street and then stopped about a hundred yards. She followed and then her horn glowed a dark color. "They won't be able to hear us."

* * *

I walked over to the prone body of Cide and then straddled his waist. He tried to say something but his broken jaw did not allow speech, only pain. I brought the knife to his stomach and then slowly stuck it in feeling only a little bit of resistance. I jerked it up violently cutting him open and exposing his organs to the night sky and his stomach acid. I stood up and then kicked him hard making his intestines and blood spill out onto the dirt. The colors and sounds began to fade back in and I started to feel sick then I was vomiting mixing it with the dirt. It was some time before the dry heaves stopped and then I shakily got to my feet and started walking back to the town. The very act of breathing was hard because of the strangulation that I had endured. It was mostly a daze during the journey but that was gone when I got back to the town.

The place was littered with corpses, a mix of the people and Cide's men. The ground was still wet in some places and my boots left bloody footprints. I got to a slightly larger building than the rest and pushed the double doors in and then fell to my knees as the hanging body of Jacob came into view. The scream that escaped my throat was louder than anything that Cide had let out. It had been a church at one time and now it was a place of sorrow and death. I found the rope that was holding Jacob up and cut it. I tried to catch him but was not fast enough and his body made a wet smacking sound against the flagstones. I crouched over him and then pulled the cross out from around his neck. No God had saved him, no God had saved the piled bodies that laid beneath the cross that held Christ. I do not know how long I sat there, in that church of the dead. I struggled to my feet and began to walk out when the sun broke out from behind the clouds that had appeared. Behind me there was a multicolored glow which made me turn. The light was coming through the stained-glass at the end of church, shining down upon the pile of bodies, the bodies of the young, the old, men, women, and children. I was about to turn back to the exit when a small sound caught my attention, it was the sound of a baby crying.

I practically ran to the pile and started to pull them off and eventually I found a small pocket where there sat a baby no more than a year old. I picked it up and pressed its small frame against my chest and I quickly left that place without looking back and entered the first building that did not have a door on it. The place reeked but I ignored that and went to the sink. I let the water run hoping that it would become warm and it did and then I began to clean the baby's body being gentle. Then I looked for something that I could feed it so I went to the cupboards to and saw baby food. I could not believe my luck and I proceeded to feed the poor thing, the orphan. The baby eventually fell asleep and I set it in the sink so that it would not fall and hurt itself. I went to the other rooms of the home and in the last room I entered I stopped and just stared. The girl that I had helped in the bar and the girl that Cide had said that he cut the arms off of was laying on the floor. She had been brutalized first and did indeed have her arms cut off and then clumsily cauterized.

Despite the trauma that she must have sustained it looked like it did not kill her. Instead it looked like some kind of animal had come in after the fact and, and good God it had torn into her stomach, there was nothing left inside. I was about to leave when a white piece of something caught my attention. It was lying near where her head was and I walked over trying to keep from steeping in her blood or anything really. I picked up the blood-stained thing only to realize that it was a photo of the girl and she…. I left the room and went over to the baby and took a long look at the birthmark on the baby's chest. It looked a little bit like a sword. I look back at the photo and saw that it was the same baby. I do not think the girl was a virgin. She was too happy in the photo for the baby to be anything but hers.

* * *

"What happened to the foal," asked Luna.

"I took him to a small survivor camp in Montana, it was north of where we were," I answer my voice barley coming out. "I joined the military afterward and from then on I had someone telling me what to do and eventually I was the one telling men to burn down houses in the name of the masses, of survival." A dark chuckle comes out of my mouth. I look up and shake my head then I wipe the tear streaks from my cheeks. "We did a lot of things because we felt that they endangered survival somehow. After all of that, with Cide, I told myself that I would only die on my terms, only when I was ready."

"Well I believe that this is a new beginning for thou, one where thou need not worry about such things," she gives me a warm smile but I just could not bring myself to return it. We make our way back to the library, so few times has my head been lower than it is now. I did not realize how hard those memories would be to remember.

**AN: next chapter will be released on 11-03-13.**

**Side-note: humans can really turn into powerful ass fucks. It probably doesn't happen like this but it is a story. the first time I wrote this chapter it was two thousand words longer but it had nothing on this one. I hope you felt something. Leave a review on what you think I did well and what you didn't like. Give suggestions on how you think I could improve.**


End file.
